Oddity
by shannello
Summary: multichaptered : It's bad enough that he's losing his brother to his best friend. Now he has to deal with a new student who seems pretty determined to stay on his mind. IYxOHSHC : AU : kaoru/kagome : UPDATED 11/17/10
1. chapter one

**Oddity  
**by shannello

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**a/n**: i just really like this pairing. excuse the gay and shit.

( d i s c l a i m e r ) nope.

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There are an infinite number of things about women that people—specifically men—should know. _Don't_ mess up her hair, _do_ compliment her make-up even if you can't really tell what she did differently. _Don't_ make jokes about her weird family unless she's okay with it and makes fun of them first, and only if you've met them already. _Don't_ make her pay for anything, because it's just nice, but don't stop her from paying once in a while, if she offers. There's so many little fucking details that make a _tremendous_ difference.

Hitachiin Kaoru, high school sweet heart and hentai twin brother Hikaru Hitachiin, knew three very important things that pretained to the female population at his high school:

1. Never ever argue with them, ever.

2. Honestly, they have a fatal attraction to cuteness; an obvious weakness.

3. When they're in love, you'll _know_.

Very simple rules. No, not even rules—_statements_ really—just three important sentences that every boy should know, understand, and live by. Quietly, sitting at his desk, three minutes before first bell, Kaoru wrote the list down on a scrap piece of notebook paper. "_Three very important things about women that all mankind should know_."

_Looks nice_, he cerebrated, grinning at the kanji.

_But_.

Girls. Kaoru didn't mind them. No, it wasn't that. They just—they just weren't his thing. Since _birth _his only interest pertaining _love_ or _romance _involved his brother, Hikaru. They were inseparable, really. 'They could have been born Siamese and nothing would have changed,' their mother often admitted, noting how they held hands as they walked through the hallways of their mansion—just because they wanted to hold hands.

Girls? They were fun to play/mess around/fuck with. But to love? Really _enjoy _being around? Don't think so.

Because _Hikaru_. Hikaru is everything, really, not just his _brother_ or his _best friend_. No. Shut up. You're wrong.

Hikaru is very, very important. Not like _girls_... with their long hair and thin lips and squeaky, high-pitched voices.

Ugh. Something about them was just... just—

Different. Something really different that Kaoru just didn't entirely accept, _and the fact that they're really odd. I don't see how someone can spend all day _giggling_. _That was one specific reason why he didn't like girls.

But then there was... Haruhi.

How many times did he use that line? Haruhi. Haruhi. Haruhi

Because of her Kaoru began to realize that some girls were actually cool/chill/down to _earth_. That... that he didn't need his brother to be happy.

His pencil lead broke. It rolled across his paper, across his desk, and off the side. Laconically, his eyes followed the lead to its tragic demise at the feet of—

"Um... Excuse me?"

—a _girl_.

Pretty, with long dark hair and soft-looking skin and skinny enough that the generic yellow uniform hung around her small waist—she could have been any other girl.

But her eyes. They were... they were pretty. _Really_ pretty. Really blue and clear and warm looking. They sucked him in and swallowed him whole. Kaoru had never seen blue eyes like her's before.

The girl—cocking her head slightly to the side to inspect Kaoru's suddenly unresponsive brain—was obviously Japanese, with her straight, dark hair and her light complexion, but something was _off _about her and Kaoru noticed that right away.

"Ex_cuse _me? Are you ok?" prodded the girl, genuinely concerned by the sound of her voice, and Kaoru flushed slightly, embarrassed.

_Eh—_

"—I'm _Kagome_. Higurashi Kagome, by the way," she continued, although Kaoru was stiff and not reacting in any way besides sitting still and staring at her... her...

Kaoru swallowed hard.

Hands flat against his desk, Kaoru quickly spread them over his paper, covering his little list that no eyes should see. Kagome exhaled loudly, letting out a temperamental sigh beside him, her eyes leaving his to venture in a different direction.

Kaoru watched her chest move in and out. Shyly, he spoke. "You're... _Kagome_."

"I just said that."

Kaoru smiled. "Sorry. I don't usually have girls as cute as you come up to me before class; I'm kind of nervous."

Shyly, Kagome grinned back. "I—I was wondering if this was 1-A." Cutely, she shrugged. "I know I can go look outside the classroom, but I'm already in here and—"

Kaoru blinked. "1-A, yep. You're in the right classroom." _Higurashi Kagome. _"Um, you just transferred?"

Kagome nodded, her eyes glazing over and her lips parted expectantly. Her heart throbbed in her chest. "Yeah, I just transferred."

Smiling, Kaoru studied her solemn expression and nudged her playfully. "I just said that."

Kagome shook her head to relieve it of any thought. "Uhm, you never told me your name." _Don't start with an _I. _Don't start with an _I. _Don't start with an _I.

"It's Hitachiin Kaoru, Higurashi-san," supplied Kaoru happily, and a heavy, layered weight was lifted off of Kagome's chest. Hitachiin Kaoru. Higurashi Kagome.

"Our names match!"

"Erm, what?"

Kagome giggled merrily. "Sorry. It's just, both of our names start with a _K_ and an _H_. I thought it was..."

H_igurashi_ K_agome_. H_itachiin _K_aoru. They do match._ Kaoru hid a grin.

A comfortable, pregnant silence settled around them as Kagome bent down to pick something up by her shoe.

During her absence, Kaoru took the moment to sit back and comtemplate, _What have I gotten myself into?_

Smiling, and determining where she'd sit (since both desks beside Kaoru were currently taken and marked with lone book bags) Kagome reached over and took Kaoru's hand inside her's. Practiced, she opened his hand and placed his pencil lead in his palm.

"Here—" she said, cheeks hot, "it rolled off when I walked over. Figured you could still use it, it's kind of big—"

"Oh," interrupted Kaoru, watching her intently. She... she was really different. Something about her was just, erm, interesting and _fun_ and... and—

_Oh_.

He finally saw it.

How she turned away expectantly as if her heart weighed twice the weight she did. How her blue eyes glazed over when she remembered something she didn't want to. How her cheeks brightened when he said something, then instantly she pursed her lips like she regretted feeling that way.

_She's in love._

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this is sooo dumb. reworking the second chapter, too, then the _real_ update. toodles.


	2. chapter two

**Oddity**  
by shannello

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**a/n: **rewritten. if you're still following this; the next update will be coming shortly, like before August gets here. just a heads uuuup. also, this is stiiiiil shit_! _re-reading this makes me pukey.

also, i do not own e. e. cummings or his work, _Let's Live Suddenly Without Thinking_.

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Kaoru learned three very important things about Kagome-chan during their first two classes together. Unfortunately for Kaoru, none of the three were her bra-size. Instead, Kagome revealed a morsel of her past to him, and it was as dark, as tragic, and as miserable as _every_ new student's hidden past should be.

Ahem, okay, reverse.

Almost fatally ordinary, Kagome enlightened Kaoru about her former high school, the less prestigious one an hour from Ouran that everyone makes fun of (and _that_ part Kaoru kept to himself). It was named Umiko, an Institution for Young Adults, painfully dull if you asked Kaoru—but, with all respect, he listened to Kagome go on and on about the place because it was generally the _right_ thing to do in this situation.

Sure, three minutes into it he was begging for a spontaneous case of Appendicitis, aiming an inch short of spontaneous combustion only because he was positive he could live without his appendix but not so positive about his _flesh_, but then Kagome got to all the _good_ parts.

Like the parts about her friends, an adulterated group of misfits who did _not_ rule the school, if that's what you were thinking. They were fucking weirdos, according to Kagome, who was a weirdo herself, if you can believe it. She was one of the slackers (utterly surprising to Kaoru) and she missed a lot of school, a lot more class, and slept solely _during_ her lessons. Her best friend, Sango, was a bitch but in a good way (?) and roughed up the student population in sporadic out-bursts. She was a foster child, along with her depressed younger brother, though Kagome went a little cryptic on Sango's details after she realized how much she had already said. Kaoru assumed Sango was so angry because of the issues she had going with her family and her brother, but he kept that to himself, btw.

Kagome's other best friend, a dude named Miroku, was a compulsive liar (diagnosed by Kagome) and a klepto, and Kagome told Kaoru how when the pair first met in eighth grade Miroku had stole the money she had brought for picture day and Kagome ended up being cut out of the year book. Justifiably angry, Kagome attacked him after figuring out it was _him_ who had robbed her and they both ended up in the high-school slammer for two weeks, and ended up bonding by the end of it. Also, they had dated briefly during ninth grade, but it didn't work because Kagome has jealousy issues (she stressed/emphasized this) and Miroku is a _womanizer_.

There were more kids in her makeshift posse, like a guy named Kouga who was from Canada and Kagome was terrified of being alone in a room with him, and a girl named Kagura, who a lesbian and everyone was scared of her, but not because of her sexual preferences, and she still dated this tough guy, Naraku, off-and-on for like five years despite her into-girls-thing.

Kaoru learned that Kagome loved to talk, mostly about anything but especially about something she liked, such as her friends, but when she came to a name, _Inuyasha_... she just...

—she just _stopped_.

Unexpectedly, Kagome pressed her lips into a tight little line. Kaoru felt out-of-place, actually, when the steady, continuous stream of _this_ and _that_ ceased.

"Go on?" pressed Kaoru innocently, but Kagome could not be influenced.

She looked tired, upon closer inspection, and Kaoru felt a tinge of pity.

She sucked in a breath, and then, almost as suddenly as she had stopped, Kagome jumped back into a giddy oration. "Did I mention anything about my sister?"

"_Ah_, no, you didn't," said Kaoru, clearly interested and happy.

"Well," started Kagome, "her name's Kikyou, and she's, I _think_, like, seven minutes older than me."

Kaoru blinked. "Seven minutes? She's your twin sister?"

"Mmn, yep_! _Like you," replied Kagome, obviously _too_ happily, and she didn't understand why she felt so... so...

Sad.

"Did she transfer with you?" asked Kaoru, and Kagome shook her head instantaneously.

Slowly, Kagome allowed herself to relax, realizing that Kaoru had forgotten all about her mentioning of _Inuyasha _and that was a good thing. She wasn't in any state to converse about him—she couldn't even _think_ about him without getting a ball in her throat and that slick, wet ache in her chest, like the kind you get from watching a depressing romance movie and someone just died.

Kagome licked her lips, and said, "Kikyou didn't want to separate from her boyfriend."

"I knew this girl once who travelled all the way from France for a boy she didn't even know," started Kaoru strongly, recalling the memories of Renge's arrival and all the _fun_ that resulted. "Just because he looked like a kid in a video game and she had a crush on him."

Kagome parted her mouth in a small, impressed gape. "Seriously?"

"Uh-huh," said Kaoru. "The mentality of our students is really going around here—erm, but she _was_ from France, and some wackos originate from France..." he trailed off, images of Tamaki in women's clothing invading and conquering his mind.

Unpredictably, a loud, familiar sound invaded and conquered his eardrums—the third period bell.

"_Oi_, Kaoru," came a loud, familiar voice. "Are you coming or what? Haruhi's already left me behind and—"

Started, Kaoru looked up. Through his thick, choppy red hair he saw his brother, Hikaru. Fidgeting, Kaoru watched the hard line of his shoulders.

_But_.

"Uh, yeah, right behind you. I—um, just—just gotta get some things together."

Hikaru blinked, smacking his lips unintentionally. "You sure? I can wait—"

"No, you can go; don't worry about me," insisted Kaoru, still seated and staring at his hands intently. "I'll be right behind you, Hikar_u_."

He didn't have to tell him twice, erm, three times, although Hikaru offered a cryptic shrug. Hikaru slung his bag over his shoulder and tussled his hair a little for that dramatic affect. Kaoru felt his neck heat up uncomfortably as Hikaru walked to the exit. The whole of him wanted to leap up excitedly and follow behind him, but Kaoru refrained from doing so. "Yeah, 'kay then. Don't take long, Kaoru," he added, affectionately.

Giddy, Kagome bounced back to his desk. "Ne, Kaoru-kun? I'm—um—ready to go, and, uh, why did you wait for me? Wasn't your brother just here?"

Nervous, Kaoru rose to his feet. "Uh, I—you see—I just thought I'd escort you to the next class?"

A smallish smile twitched the corners of Kagome's mouth. "I _see_, Kaoru-kun. You just wanted to _guide _me to my next class." A girlish giggle escaped her.

Mechanically, Kaoru filed each of his three note books, two text books, and innumerable pencils back into the back pack from whence they came. Kagome eyed him suspiciously.

"'kay. Next class is this a 'way—" Here, Kaoru grabbed her hand, leading her vigorously through the train of desks from Kaoru's to the door on the other side of the classroom.

"Thank you," she said.

It sounded _odd_. The words exited her mouth tentatively.

But as she exited the classroom, her bony hand in his, Kagome could not help but feel a wave of expected relief and the unusual sense of dusting off her heart and winding up the key.

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From _Twenty Days Since Arrival _(_Tokyo Enquirer_ magazine, November 6, 2007) by Tenou Ayaka:

Not much is revealed of Higurashi Kagome until a week after her arrival (October 11, 2007) at Ouran High School, here, in Japan. All that is known is the name of her previous high school, Umiko Institution for Young Adults, located in Arakawa, Tokyo.

Hitachiin Kaoru, twin brother to Hitachiin Hikaru, and host of the infamous Host Club, quickly befriended Kagome upon her arrival.

There is some evidence that Fujioka Haruhi and Hitachiin Hikaru were also associated with Higurashi Kagome, but neither would admit to any rumors nor even agree to an interview.

Before Higurashi transferred to Ouran, Hitachiin had been impressive in his school work. Usually in the 96th percentile, according to grades, Hitachiin was an exemplary student—although, after Higurashi arrived, Hitachiin's grades suffered accordingly. Some even remarked on how his personality changed, as well. He began to exclude himself from any after-school programs (beside the Host Club), and seemed very anxious for something to happen.

No one, besides Higurashi and Hitachiin themselves, really understands what the motive for desecrating Ouran's 3rd Music Room...

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And as if _fate_ wanted them to be around each other constantly, Kaoru and Kagome had been scheduled for _Creative Writing—_ahem, along with the rest of their class, of course, heh.

They were studying an American poet, E. E. Cummings; thankfully not each and every of the 2,900 poems and sonnets.

The professor was babbling off in the corner vehemently about _a-b-a-b _and _a-b-b-a _and rhyming couplets, allowing for Kaoru to strike up conversation with his newest... uhm, companion.

"Psst, new girl," whispered Kaoru, leaning slightly between desks.

Kagome's eyes focused momentarily on Kaoru's mouth, then slowly crept up to his eyes. "_Hmm_?"

"I thought it'd only be fair if I told you _more _about me, eh?" replied Kaoru, quietly.

Kagome tapped her foot merrily, "Mmmn, okay."

And while they completely evaded the entire lesson, Kagome learned three very important details about the cute, red-haired boy she befriended. Well, for one, he was filthly rich. Lived in a _mansion_.

Oh, dear.

And she almost couldn't believe him when he told her how he used to be closed-off and distant, relying only on his brother—no one else. Kaoru and Hikaru, the Hitachiin twins, two permanent figures remaining together without cease. Part of her, a small, quiet part, _understood_.

He explained how the _Host Club_ was really just a little family of mixed-up boys with bad attitudes (minus one) and how they were the dad, mom, sister (?), brothers he and Hikaru never had. The 3rd Music Room was like a second home—on really bad days, it was like his only home, and how occasionally he never wanted to leave its safe, familiar margins for his real home.

Kaoru talked about Haruhi, and how _he_ was the newest host and how him and his brother loved to bug _him_ as much and as often as they could.

Kagome ignored the tinge of jealousy she felt in the back of her neck.

Kaoru idly played with his collar, sensing her unease.

"Haruhi-san is really feminine," blurted Kagome, regretting it immediately, and Kaoru sputtered.

_Uh-oh_.

"Sorry," apologized Kagome, feeling dumb. "I don't know what came over me..."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," said Kaoru, cocking his head to the side. Kagome stared at him in disbelief.

"Why are you so nice to me?"

"Higurashi-san, you enrolled a month behind schedule; I'd expect you'd be taking notes—or, something."

Kagome sunk back into her seat, embarassed and pink-faced.

"Continuing from where I left off, Cummings work was personally styled in _such _a way—but I'm beside the point. I want each of you to pair up and choose one of his poems to... _decipher_!"

Kagome already knew whom she wanted as a partner.

"_Psst_. Kaoru-kun."

Crewing on the back of his pencil, Kaoru sluggishly let his eyes wander the full classroom. It felt like a mother's swollen stomach, full of children, filled too much in fact that her skin was stretched and thin and inside of her babies—so many little babies—were waiting for the single moment when they'd yawn and breathe and finally _leave_.

He looked over his shoulder, "What is it?"

Kagome gave a pensive look. "Partners?"

Kaoru swallowed loudly.

"Um, okay," he found himself saying, found himself smiling foolishly, found himself feeling tired of school and greedy, greedy.

At the front of the room, the teacher finished scribbling on the board. "Ok. For the next three weeks, you and a partner will be working on a poem-to-reality project. What this means is that you'll be assigned a poem to which you and your partner will have to associate with your current lives, dreams, wishes, aspirations, etc."

Kagome's eyes widened visibly.

"You'll be given options, of course. You can either write a paper with your partner (the obvious choice for you last-minute students)." She sighed dramatically and leaned back against the board. "You can perform a skit! In front of the class, using both the poem, your creativity, and a script explaining how the poem and your lives contrast each other. _Or_—"

She stretched her fingers and they cracked.

"You can make a _film_. A simple movie, ten minutes tops. About the poem, its inner meaning, and what you and your partner feel it represents. And don't worry—" Here she winked attractively, "I have all of this printed out on paper for you."

"I wanna do the movie," Kaoru whispered and Kagome found no reason really at all to disagree.

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"Okay, so, we'll film it in the Music Room, right?"

Kagome blinked twice. "Music Room?"

Kaoru grinned proudly. "Ouran's 3rd Music Room. Home to the acclaimed _Host Club _of this very school. Created three years ago by—"

"Tamaki-san?"

"You—how do you already know about him? Kagome? But you—just got here _three _periods ago—"

Class was almost over, but they had already chosen their specific poem; _Let's Live Suddenly Without Thinking_.

Kagome slid a creamy leg over the other, criss-crossing herself comfortably. "Well, you know. Isn't he the Chairman's son? _Real _important?" Her expression was of complete naivety. Kaoru shivered at its intensity.

"Uh, yeah." he forced out, feeling awkward. "He's... the president of the Club. _Real _important."

Kagome giggled adorably.

"—anyway... what are we gonna do for the movie? Any _brilliant _ideas?"

Smiling, Kaoru began: "We can film the entire thing in Music Room 3, no sweat. There's enough room for—uh—honestly, just about anything, so it's the obvious choice, I think. Tamaki-sempai won't mind (I hope), so we should be okay."

Kagome clapped, happily. "Sounds perfect, then. Um, what do you—"

"Suppose we do?" said Kaoru, grinning. His face was bright and clean and his eyes were dark and fiery.

Kagome thought he looked absolutely sinister in the dim lighting of the classroom.

His chest filled with hot, romantic air. Voices around them trembled, then—slowly quieted into a rippling stop.

"I know what we'll do, Kagome-san." He leaned in, his hand going to her cheek, whispering: "But you'll have to trust me."

Breathing erratically, Kagome slumped back almost at once. "I—you, you can't trust anybody who asks you to trust them, Kaoru-kun."

He inched closer, _closer_, until he was at such a proximity to say; "Please _try_."

"Kaoru?" "Kaoru!"

Oh, just _awesome_.

Haruhi was staring intently, her face scrunched up into a dissatisfied expression. Kagome's chest heaved in hard, two times a few inches from his.

"What are you doing to Higurashi-san? We're not in a _brothel_—no offence to you, Higurashi-san—but Kaoru?"

Hikaru snickered. Then—

"Oh, hey. Kao_ru_?" Hikaru wiped a little bit of sweat from his forehead and crumpled his note sheet into his pocket. "Why are you all over Kagome?" There was a little smidgen of jealousy on his voice—Kaoru wanted _more_ of it.

"Uh, yeah, Kaoru-kun. Not uhm, a brothel."

Oh. Right.

Kagome.

Under him.

"Um, ok, sorry," replied Kaoru, strategically crawling back off of Kagome. His cheeks were dark and red. "I slipped, um, a little."

_Lame_.

Haruhi looked biased. She tugged at her sleeve unconsciously. "Um, okay, well, this is over," she amended. It was her way of saying 'alright, Kaoru. You get it easy this time, but—_mister_!—next time you do this, I'll_!_"

"Why do I put myself through this?" asked Haruhi to none of them in particular, then glanced up at Hikaru, who then shrugged dumbly, his eyes on Kaoru and Kagome.

Kagome hiccupped.

"Whatever." Hikaru waved his hand impassively, turning away with Haruhi grumbling quietly to herself beside his hip.

"They're—um—really _nice_?"

Kaoru patted her hand. "Yeah, sorry about them. Hikaru's usually not that... rude, and Haruhi just likes to snap at me—more than usual, lately."

Kagome blinked. "How come?" She leaned slightly to the side, inspecting his profile. It was sharp and... _pretty_.

Kaoru shrugged. "I don't know." He messed with his cuff.

Momentarily mute, she reached over and pinched his sleeves, pulling his hand into her lap. She worked professionally, no blush, no hiccup, just _work_. Her little fingers straightened out his sleeve, then the other, and she played with the button for a minute, just thinking about—

"What was he like?"

"Hmm?" answered Kagome, smoothing out the sleeve.

"The guy you love?" mumbled Kaoru. His voice was low, but Kagome could hear his discomfort in his voice.

Oh.

_Oh_.

"Unreciprocated," said Kagome, exhaling.

Kaoru touched his sleeve with his right hand, listening to Kagome breathe and fight a headache that was festering behind her temples.

He said: "_Oh_," and that was it.

"Kaoru-kun?" Kagome said, brushing her hair with her fingers.

"Mmn?"

She stared out the window, her thoughts miles away. "Did you ever love someone _to death_?"

He swallowed. "Yes. _Hikaru_."

Kagome smiled, then gave a flaccid frown. "I know what you mean. Before _him_, there was only—I... my sister was the only one."

Suddenly, Kagome pressed her palm to her cheek flat, blushing brightly. "_Wow_. I only met you a little while ago and I'm already spilling my guts. Sorry if I creeped you out or something."

Kaoru grinned cheerfully, and his heart fluttered against its seams. "It's okay."

"Promise me something?" Kagome said, her eyes pleading and round.

"What?"

"Promise that you'll—" _stay_,"—sit with me..."

"At lunch?"

"Yes, please," she found herself saying, tugging at his sleeve.

The corners of his lips stretched into a smile. "_Okay_."

The bell rang.

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From _Twenty Days Since Arrival _(_Tokyo Enquirer_ magazine, November 6, 2007) by Tenou Ayaka:

When we questioned Higurashi Kikyou on the intentions of her younger sister she refused to answer. She would not release any information on the whereabouts of Kagome or what the reason was for vandalizing Ouran's 3rd Music Room.

We have reasons to suspect that Kikyou had known what her sister was planning, and that Fujioka Haruhi and Hitachiin Hikaru knew also.

As of today, the confirmed whereabouts of Higurashi Kagome and Hitachiin Kaoru is still unknown.

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reworked. it's not as sickening as it was before. next chapter coming asap, believe me_!_


	3. chapter three

**Oddity**  
by shannello

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**a/n**: aha! i finally updated. hopefully some of you are still following this story—in case you _are_, thank you:) this was in my shit pile before i re-read some of your reviews and decided to continue it. see? reviews really are important! haha. okay, i'm just bullshitting. read! and enjoy? :)

also! i added a bit more to the last chapter, some things that should be interesting to read, so go back and check that out, too?

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They both _hated_ geometry with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

They shared an identical dependence on caffeine; Kagome was addicted to coffee even though it made her sick almost immediately and Kaoru had a fondness for the instant brew Haruhi introduced, even though it tasted like poverty and the humbled masses.

They both admired their respectable, older siblings _possessively_.

But there was _one _significant difference between them—you see, Kagome had been in love before and Kaoru was forced to nip any intimate feelings he had for Haruhi before they could fester and grow because he was _whipped_.

If Hikaru liked Haruhi in _that_ way, more than a toy, more than a tease, well, then, Kaoru would stop liking her for _him_.

Kagome wasn't so noble—in fact, Kagome was moderately _greedy_.

It's just, Kikyou was so pretty and wonderful and everything Kagome wasn't and well—

—she just wanted _one_ chance. One opportunity to _be_ Kikyou and not the screw-up, slacker, quick-tempered kid she was. One thing led to another and Kagome found that being Kikyou wasn't as easy as she made it out to be, predominantly when _Inuyasha _was involved and…

Kagome shook her head violently. Kaoru had been prodding all day, attempting to get any speck of detail out of her with no avail. Kagome wouldn't budge.

In all honesty, Kaoru should know how this feels and because of that mutual knowledge he should've backed off and let her be. But in this particular case Kaoru found he couldn't just back off. He couldn't just _let her be_. He wanted to know _everything_ and anything about Inuyasha, about the guy who made Kagome so… so…

So _miserable._

Kaoru decided, staring at Kagome's sad expression intently, that he would get it out of her eventually, every last bit.

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"Welcome to the _Host Club_," said Kaoru expectantly, extending his arm out. It was a few days after Kagome had transferred, and although she'd heard _so_ much about the school's infamous _Host Club_ Kagome had never had the chance to experience it first hand. Upon realizing this, Kaoru took the matter into _his_ hands and brought her down to the Music Room, immediately, one day after school. The 3rd Music Room was decorated with autumn leaves, warm reds, and deep, forest greens. The kimonos donned by the hosts were beautifully detailed and Kagome surveyed the garments enviously. "My mom designed everything the _Host Club_ is wearing," said Kaoru proudly, noticing Kagome's appreciation of their fashionable garb.

"Oh, my God," said Kagome, visibly impressed.

Without more ado, Tamaki introduced himself… as spectacularly as usual. "_Ah_, an unfamiliar but gorgeous face, welcome_!_ I am Suoh Tamaki, as you probably already know, and you are?"

Kagome hiccupped cutely, cursed Kaoru for dragging her down here, and said, "Eh, Kagome…"

"KAGOME_!_" hollered Tamaki, who then took Kagome's hands in his. "Ah, and the princess' name is Kagome—such a lovely name_!_"

Embarrassed and pink, Kagome withdrew.

"_Ne_, milord," squeaked Kaoru, "I think you're upsetting the princess."

Tamaki flushed brightly. "Forgive me, sweet flower, if I have offended you—"

"No, no! Everything's fine, just dandy!" interrupted Kagome… erm, awkwardly. Kaoru blinked in her direction. Shyly, Kagome commented, "I've never had someone say such, erm, _sweet_ things about me—even if they're just pretend…"

"_Pretend?_" said Tamaki, insulted. "I assure you, Kagome, everything I've been saying is the truth and nothing more."

Suddenly, "Ahem, I'd heard about a new transfer student coming from Umiko (several weeks ago)," came a clear, confident voice belonging to none other than Ootori Kyouya, who appeared and bowed in Kagome's direction. "_Higurashi_, I presume."

Overwhelmed, Kagome nodded slightly. "Um, yeah."

Kyouya smiled at her (and a unexplainable chill ran down all of their spines), "Welcome to the _Host Club_; please excuse our unconventional leader, and the club apologizes for any misfortunes caused by Tamaki."

"Caused by _me? _Misfortunes—"

"Oh, thanks," said Kagome through her haze, as she was currently stunned at how _pretty_ the boys were at her new school, specifically the ones in the _Ouran High School Host__Club_.

"Will you be sitting with Kaoru and Hikaru today, Higurashi-san?" asked Kyouya politely, although he was probably thinking terrible things and solving the confidential puzzles about her dark past or something like that. Kagome, while uneasy and unsure, was no expectation to Kyouya's sense of grandeur (and also, she didn't understand what 'sitting' meant, per se) and nodded, automatically.

There was a hand on the underside of her wrist and then she was being led out of the door way and through the bright colors and flowers and romantic atmosphere of the _Host Club_ to a small, isolated table with four chairs.

The hand was connected to an arm, if you can believe that, and the arm was connected to a shoulder, which sequentially was connected to Kaoru's neck and head. Kagome was relieved she wasn't being sent off with Ootori Kyouya, because despite his good looks he had something evil going about him and it terrified her.

"You should have chosen to go with Tamaki," said Kaoru miserably.

"Wait, what?" replied Kagome, seconds before Kaoru's brother, Hikaru, took the seat beside his brother. With him was a short, blonde haired female, a year older than them. She took the empty seat beside Kagome.

"Good afternoon," purred Hikaru, wrapping an arm around his younger brother. "Feels like I haven't talked to you all day…"

Whether he was being honest or not, Kaoru felt a tinge of guilt. He _had_ been sort of, erm, ignoring Hikaru all day (for Kagome's companionship) but, hey, Hikaru had been breaking his heart by prancing around with Haruhi and _Kaoru _hadn't chastised Hikaru for that.

_Yet_.

Regardless of his internal debate/argument/conclusion, Kaoru was reduced to a schmaltzy pile of goo. "I'm sorry, Hikaru… It's just, I couldn't stand to see you with all those girls—it was breaking me apart, Hikaru."

Kagome stared at the scene across the table from her, feeling oddly flustered and… embarrassed? Almost like she was…

_Humiliated_.

"Those girls don't mean anything to me, you know that, Kaoru_!_" shouted Hikaru passionately, pulling Kaoru into his chest. Kaoru's thoughts consisted of: _warm_, _soft_, _I love Hikaru_.

"How can I believe you?" said Kaoru, sort of acting and sort of not. "When I see you with those girls, Hikaru, you don't know how sad I feel_!_"

Here, Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's chin with one of his hands and forced the boy to look up at him. Their faces were inches apart. "_Stupid_, when I'm with them, the only person on my mind is _you_, Kaoru."

Kaoru melted. "Hikaru—"

"What is _this_?" came the background noise, sounding suspiciously like Kagome.

The girl next to her was squeeing and had flowers floating around her head and was saying something about how twincest was so beautiful and the purest form of love and blah blah—_wait_.

_Twincest_—

"Oh, my God," squeaked Kagome, uncertain of what to say. "I—I thought—when you told me you knew how I _felt_, I didn't think you were _sleeping_ with your twin brother!" She pushed back her seat unceremoniously, scraping it across the polished tile, and ran awkwardly to the door, her face red and hot.

Kaoru, who was enjoying the close proximity of his twin brother, broke the bonds Hikaru had on his brain and went into a mini state of panic. Naturally, he didn't plan any of this out and hadn't _meant _for Kagome to misunderstand—he just wanted to show her the _Host Club_ and—and he couldn't do anything to stop her from leaving.

_I've never been so _humiliated_ in my life_—_well_, okay_, there is that one time, but this is pushing it! _Kagome discussed her situation with her unresponsive brain, and so far, nil feedback, but, um, she was _sure_ her mentality was on her side, one-hundred percent.

Furiously, she attempted to slam the door behind her but it was one of those slow moving, heavy doors, and it just sort of… took it's sweet time with the 'slamming dramatically' thing, in which it did _not_.

Once it was closed, however, Kagome took off in a desperate run with no particular destination in mind.

But—the _nerve_ of that guy. Stringing her along all day, then out of nowhere reveal the fact that he's into his _brother_, in that way. Kagome thought he loved his brother to death in that… that—_brotherly_ love, kind of way!

Oomph.

Kagome stopped herself mid-run and sunk to her knees.

Ouran Academy was seriously _fucked_ up.

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Back in the 3rd Music Room: erm, well, things were kind of jumbled.

Around the room at various tables, Ouran's rich and beautiful female students were disorientated and panicky at Kagome's actions. They whispered closely to each other, their voices low and edgy.

"No one has EVER ran away from the HOST CLUB—oh my, _mother_!" cried Tamaki, abandoning his clientele for an emergency discussion with Kyouya and the rest of the hosts.

"Kaoru, you brought us a defective!" said Hikaru, crossing his arms.

Kaoru blinked, noticeably bamboozled. "Wha—she's not _defective_—"

"Well, then she must be a lesbian—"

"STOP!" sobbed Tamaki, hurrying to cover Haruhi's ears with both of his hands, "there will be absolutely no talk of lesbians in the proximity of Haruhi—_ahh_, the memories of St. Lobelia Girl's Academy still haunt me…"

"Fine," growled Hikaru, who then turned his attention _exclusively _to Kaoru. "What _exactly _is up with Higurashi-san?"

Kaoru swallowed the ball in his throat. Six pairs of eyes focused on him and his answer was on the tip of his tongue but just _couldn't_—

"_Listen_," barked Kaoru, nervously. "I guess—Kagome just isn't into twincest or something."

"Not into—how can this _be?_" questioned Tamaki, as if it were the most unimaginable thing well, ever. "For three years, you two have been winning the feeble hearts of our female counterparts with the twincest act! And to think," Here, Tamaki spun around, then placed his face in his hand, "there's a feeble heart out there that _doesn't_ like twincest! _Unbelievable!_"

"Ngn, well, I guess it _could_ be possible," remarked Hikaru.

"Well, considering that Higurashi-san is a twin herself, perhaps she was offended," said Kyouya, his nose in his note book.

"Awwh, I didn't even get to say 'hello' before she ran off!" bawled Hunny, unfortunately.

"Hn," said Mori, importantly.

"So," inserted Haruhi, slightly unconcerned. "What are we going to do about this? Although, I don't think it's really that big of a problem and all of you are blowing it out of proportion—"

"NOT A BIG PROBLEM?" clamored Tamaki, who then rushed over and grabbed Haruhi by her shoulders. He began to rock her back and forth, her head sort of bobbing. "Haruhi, sweet, naïve Haruhi, you still don't understand the _Host Club _and it's standings. We have a reputation to uphold and if word gets around that girls are running away from our fantastic good looks, well, I'm not sure what would happen, but I assure you, something _will_."

"Fine, fine, just let me go," said Haruhi. "Okay, so, this _is_ a big deal, but only because it could possibly (?) lead to the dissolution of the _Host Club_," Here, Haruhi started to speak sort of to herself, "and then I won't have any way to pay back my debt… I don't think I'd be able to come up with the remaining amount any time soon…"

"We'll have to terminate her," offered Kyouya, casually.

"What? We can't _terminate_ Kagome!" came Kaoru.

Hikaru snorted. "Well, we have to do something. And if terminating her isn't it, well, then I don't know what it is."

"Um, I agree with Kaoru-kun. We can't actually terminate someone… can we?" asked Haruhi, innocently.

"Haruhi, don't contemplate Kagome's termination, please," said Kaoru, defeated.

"I think termination's scary," commented Hunny. The others agreed with him in a series of mumbles and grunts.

Tamaki obtained a look of deliberation. "We can't terminate her, but we have to get her to come back to the club. So the other girls don't resort to anarchy and insubordination."

Kaoru, oddly quiet and embarrassed, sunk back from the group.

"Right," said Haruhi, actually starting to understand why they were making such a big deal about one girl—

"Ne, Kaoru-kun," continued Haruhi, to, erm, herself.

Kaoru was _gone_.

"Shit," muttered Hikaru, angrily. "Why does he do these stupid things?"

"He _is_ related to you," was Kyouya's curt reply.

"Shut up."

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"That new girl is really weird—"

"Oh, you heard about that, too?"

"Mhmm, Suzume told me all about it—she said she ran out of the _Host Club_, away from the hosts, the twins specifically!"

Kagome slumped her shoulders and lowered her head. This was _the_ worst first day of school…

Was is such a crime to have morals? To acknowledge the relationship siblings have with each other without pushing past the limits into—into…

Kagome shuddered.

It was simply like, ridiculous and clearly out of the question. She couldn't even _picture_ herself touching her sister like that. Sure, she _loved_ Kikyou immeasurably and would give her life for hers, but no—

_Sorry_. She just _wasn't_ into it.

And now, because of her opinion, half the school already dubbed her 'the weird new girl' and Kagome was feeling bummed and out of place and just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

And to think she was actually starting to _like_ that sicko—he was nice, cute, funny, smart, incestuous, and _gay_, right? Kagome's shoulders slumped a little more.

Why did she always pick the unattainable ones?

First her second grade teacher, yes, that one was hard to let go of, but Kagome couldn't repeat the year and he _was_ thirty-five. Then she had to go and fall in love with the dumbest, cruelest, slowest, most desirable boy at Umiko, oh, who happened to be in a long term relationship with her _sister_ of all people. And now, despite the teeniest inkling of attraction, Kagome was forced to discontinue any feelings she might have been able to fester for Kaoru because, unfortunately, the boy was gay. For his _brother_.

"You're really nothing like the girls around here, are you?" came a familiar and um, despicable, yeah, despicable voice.

Kagome turned hesitantly. "Oh, you."

Kaoru looked as if he'd been hit. "Not happy to see me?"

"Hap—you really had me fooled, Kaoru." Kagome stopped, crossed her arms, and began to look genuinely evil. Or, at least gave it her best shot.

Kaoru had the nerve to _chuckle_. "I can explain everything. You overreacted extraordinarily—"

"Overreacted?" said Kagome, astounded at his, his… irrationality. "You and your—your _brother_—how could I _not_ overreact?"

Kaoru nodded. "Someone like you would overreact, but only because you're not from—"

"Someone like _me_? Am I required to take that personally or can you explain that, too?" huffed Kagome, angrily. She puffed away a stubborn curl. "I shouldn't even be talking to you—you embarrassed me, and… and—"

"No, wait, listen. Everything I say just comes out wrong," said Kaoru, beginning to falter. He'd never had trouble explaining himself and getting out of trouble. What the heck was going on?

"You have five seconds," warned Kagome, very frank and legitimate.

Kaoru took two of the five to compose himself, then began, "It's not—it's just an _act_. It's what we're required to do, in the _Host Club_, for the patrons. The girls around here are… really immature and like to see two boys perform mock-romance—for free."

Kagome blinked. "So, you're not really sleeping with your brother?"

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but, no," replied Kaoru, playfully.

Kagome, still slightly disturbed, gave a look of discretion.

Kaoru cocked his head to the side a little. "Kagome, I swear to you, nothing is going on between me and my brother." _Because Hikaru is in love with Haruhi and not me and_—

Kagome exhaled dramatically and bowed her head. "I know I'm going to regret this, but, I guess I believe you."

"Good!" exclaimed Kaoru, happy. "It's fortunate I got to you before the other hosts did, too. They were talking about termination and the like—"

"Terminat—oh my…" Kagome felt faint. She massaged her temples with two fingers, anxiously. "Just what kind of school did Mama pick—"

"One of the best academies in Japan," interrupted Kaoru, merrily. "Hmn, seeing how I've been excused from my duties, would you like a tour?"

Kagome took a moment to decide, but eventually said, "Sure."

Kaoru offered his arm and, tentatively but politely, Kagome took it.

He led her to the wings she hadn't seen during the day, allowed her to glance inside the Senpai's classrooms, and took her to three of the cafeterias, chatting idly as they explored.

"This school is enormous," remarked Kagome.

"Isn't it?" breathed Kaoru, affectionately.

"My last school was a _fraction _of the size of this place," said Kagome, studying the high ceiling.

"Tell me more about your school?" asked Kaoru, secretly wanting to hear nothing about Umiko and more about the guy that Kagome was fixated on.

Kagome smiled. "It was fun there, I guess. Me and my friends, hah, we would get in _so_ much trouble…" she trailed off, grinning. "But it wasn't always fun. I got in a fight with Kikyou earlier this year—I don't know if we're back on speaking terms yet because, well, I haven't actually talked to her in weeks."

"What happened?" nudged Kaoru.

Kagome sucked in a breath. "It's a really long story."

"That's okay," said Kaoru.

Kagome glared at him. She had avoided telling the story to the therapist she was required to visit, and she didn't find it appealing to spill all to this random boy who she wasn't positive about. But she couldn't avoid talking about it forever, she supposed, and gave in.

"Okay, I guess it started sometime in August," began Kagome, awkwardly. "Kikyou and I were really close, but I did something dumb, no—_incredibly_ stupid and ruined everything."

Kaoru leaned in, expectantly.

"I—well, um, I sort of stole Kikyou's identity."

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cliffy. hehe. review?


	4. chapter four

**Oddity  
**by shannello

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**a/n: **this chapter is dedicated to sanestinsanest, reason being... she's on vietnamese television. also, my yahoo messenger kept exiting out of our conversation. -_- anyway, enjoy this chapter. the next one is going to be muuuch, muuuch better. i promise you that. only if you freakin' review, though :3

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Seated on a bench just outside the school's doors, Kagome readied herself for the most demoralizing speech she'd ever verbalize, well, _ever_.

This was something she hadn't even entrusted Sango with, not to mention her mother. She _had _lied to the woman for five weeks—coming out with it now, after pretending to be her older sister and lying about her _own_ absence, well, any mother in her right mind would react rather… manically to such news, so Kagome did the right thing and let classified information _stay _classified information.

The only person who knew what she did was Kikyou herself, which was probably more terrifying than her mother and Sango put together. Furthermore, Kikyou was Kagome's twin sister and had sort of… disowned her, forced her out of the Higurashi household in Arakawa, Tokyo, and was the reason Kagome was now boarding with her grandfather in Bunkyo.

Their fight was something to _behold_, honestly—their mother had never seen the likes of such a conflict and she didn't even know the reason as to _why_ her daughters were waging war against each other. Suspiciously, the war looked one-sided, like Kagome was simply enduring Kikyou's wrath, but their mother didn't comment.

Secretly, she was afraid to get involved, so when Kagome offered to live with her grandfather for as long as she needed to… their mother agreed without debate. If that was what it would take to get her daughters back on speaking terms, well, then she'd deal with it.

Kagome would live at her grandfather's until further notice (which Kagome translated to: never freakin' _ever_, or until Kikyou went off to college).

So, that's where she was heading after this chat with Kaoru was over with—his house was nice, and warm, and cozy, although it kind of smelled like dried fish and the cat threw up everywhere. It was her punishment, though, for being such a—

Kagome sighed. She really didn't want to talk about this, but she assumed it'd make her feel better in the long run, and having someone to talk to would be an added bonus, right?

She stole a glance at Kaoru, who was visibly prepared to listen to/take in/pick apart everything Kagome had to offer, his hands delicately placed in his lap, his eyes wide and bright and waiting.

Kagome, reluctant but willing, smoothed down the front of her uniform and began.

"My sister's always been the exceptional one between us two. She was top of our class, brilliant, the teachers loved her, and the students, I mean, our classmates. Everyone basically adored Kikyou, you know? But no one admired her as much as I do.

"So, I did this stupid thing. Kikyou was going away for the rest of the summer, and no one really knew about it because she kept to herself. I figured our mom knew but later I realized she really had no clue what her children were up to. I love her to death, but sometimes my mom can be a little, um, ignorant.

"Anyway, Kikyou had this friend in Okinawa, Tsubaki-san, and she was going to stay with her for the rest of summer, about five or six weeks. Five or six weeks without Kikyou. I didn't know what to do—actually, I had like, this unimaginable list with like, a hundred things I could do while she was gone, but I didn't do any of them. Except for one thing.

"I wanted to _become _Kikyou. In the literal sense. I wanted to _be_ her. And so, the moment she boarded her flight, I started the transformation. Yeah, I know it sounds completely manic, but it was something I had to do. Like, a stepping stone I had to get over before I could become mecha-Kagome, or something like that (which I didn't, wtf -_-').

"I raided her room, stole her clothes, her make-up. Within the very _hour_, I had gone from quirky younger sister to _Higurashi Kikyou_. It was nearly perfect—we're identical so I looked exactly like her; the only thing I had off was her personality. I couldn't get the right amount of indifference, erm, or something.

"But that was that. It was like Kikyou had never left.

"To test it out, I made it my first mission to successfully lie to my mom and tell her that 'Kagome' had left for Nagasaki to visit her friend Ayame-chan, and my mom bought it. I was 'in the clear', free to live as my older sister. You have no idea how relieved I felt living as somebody else. It was as if Higurashi Kagome never existed at all.

"There was _one_ tiny problem, though. _Inuyasha_.

"You see, Inuyasha… he's her boyfriend. Four years. Unfortunately, Inuyasha was dumb enough to mistaken his girlfriend's sister for her—and for five weeks… _And_, unfortunately, his girlfriend's sister was dumb enough to actually begin to harbor _feelings_ for the idiot. But, it's hard to stop yourself from falling in love with someone you've admired for four years, especially when he's suddenly holding your hand all the time, and kissing you, and…"

Kagome trailed off, slowly, her cheeks tinged a slight shade of red.

Kaoru, momentarily transformed into a zombie, reverted to his bright-eyed, clever persona, and blinked.

Suddenly, he realized that—

_She _slept_ with her sister's boyfriend_.

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Several hours away in Arakawa, Tokyo, a pretty high school girl arrived home, took off her shoes and left them by the door, and walked up the stairs to her bed room. Her backpack slumped over itself.

The house was quiet—it had been this quiet for the past four weeks, ever since Kagome moved out.

Kikyou walked to the window, moved the curtains, and pushed up the glass. Outside, the afternoon sun shone merrily in the sky, regardless of how miserable Kikyou _felt_.

True, she had never been the happiest of people, occasionally bordering on clinical depression, but Kikyou had never felt so incapable of happiness in her life. Not even when her father died, not when her grandmother died, not when her gold fish died.

Nothing had ever gotten her this _unhappy_.

It wasn't even the bad parts that got her down—the thing with Inuyasha, the lying, the sneaking around—it was the reverberations, the _conclusion_.

The _lack_ of Kagome.

She was a lying bitch, a fucking slut, 'insert-your-blasphemer-here', but she was Kikyou's _twin sister_, her only sister, the light to her dark. Where Kikyou was sad, Kagome was happy.

_Now_, however, where Kikyou was sad, spiders festered and made their homes.

"Kikyou," came a voice from the hallway, "I'm going to the grocery store. Please, don't stay inside your room all afternoon—it's a beautiful day. Maybe you could go for a walk, or garden, or…"

Kikyou closed her eyes. "Fine, mom."

She could hear her mother hesitate, pause, then begin down the stairs.

"It's a beautiful day," repeated Kikyou, eyeing the fluffy, happy clouds. When was the last time she enjoyed her afternoons? Regrettably… Kikyou couldn't remember.

She didn't have any girl friends, if you didn't count Kagura, which Kikyou didn't. And even though she was helplessly in love with her long-term boyfriend, Inuyasha, Kikyou couldn't find it in her heart to tell him that for five weeks he was cheating on her with her younger sister. _Really_ cheating on her. _Really_.

Calling a friend to confide in was out of the question (reason being that Kikyou was out of friends to confide in).

So, doing what any reasonable teenaged girl would do in this situation, Kikyou flipped open her cell phone and dialed Inuyasha's house number. Unlike her usual routine, Kikyou asked for Sesshomaru when their mother answered.

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Kaoru was speechless, to say the least.

This—it was unbelievable that this perky, adorable little girl was capable of doing something so…

_Bad_. That was the only word he could think of. Despicable also came to mind.

But—but, Kagome didn't seem like the kind of girl who would… well, steal her older sister's identity, as well as her _boyfriend_. Kagome must have had some underlying issues with her sister, or even herself, to go to such measures to escape her identity. This is why some people take um, pottery classes, or take up a journal, isn't it?

As far as Kaoru knew, Kagome was a pretty normal, happy girl. Why would she want so badly to be someone other than herself?

Because, well, Kagome had a lot going for her.

She was cute, had a sense of justice and righteousness, made Kaoru laugh—there were tons of things about her that made her likable and attractive to, um, other people, yeah. And now, after hearing her story, Kaoru realized that she was ultimately _human _like the rest of them and sometimes fell victim to greed and jealousy…

—a bit exaggeratedly, unfortunately.

"Um, wow," was all he could muster, and Kagome chucked awkwardly in response.

"Well, there you have it," said Kagome, because she _knew_ this was a bad idea and Kaoru-kun probably thought she was some kind of weirdo who belonged in a psychiatric prison.

Kaoru, on the other hand, was not convinced that was the end. "That's it?"

Kagome blanched, caught off guard. "What? That's the whole story, really."

Kaoru shot her a look and Kagome sighed, incapable of arguing at that moment. "Fine, fine, well, there's what happened_ afterward_, I guess…"

Kaoru nodded, eager. He didn't actually think she'd tell him what she did with her sister's boyfriend, but as a normal, teenaged boy (more or less) he was allowed to imagine.

"Well, I didn't really want it to end. I know it's greedy, and really, well, terrible, doing what I did, but I couldn't help it. It felt impossibly liberating—but all good things have to end, everyone knows that. Kikyou eventually came back, and I was gone on a date with Inuyasha so I didn't know she'd be sitting on her bed, waiting for me to come home.

"It was terrifying. She was so _calm_ and I was sweaty and panicky and all she said to me was 'I figured out everything.' That was _it_.

"That was the just the beginning, though. Next, she walked right up to me and slapped me across the face. It hurt really, really bad.

"After that she started screaming. I can't even remember anything she was saying… It was so loud and just seeing her like that made me feel so sad. So… I told her everything. I felt like I just had to.

"And you know what she did? She disowned me, right then and there.

"She told me, 'Kagome, I want you to leave,' and I couldn't disagree with her even though I was pretty sure I would be sleeping that night in some alley somewhere. I _had_ to agree with her. So I packed all of my clothes up and decided to live with my grandpa until I mustered up the courage to go back and face Kikyou again. Something tells me I'm never going back."

Kagome looked so powerless and sad in that instant, and Kaoru wanted to just hug her.

A silence grew between them, signaling Kaoru that there really was nothing more this time. Clearing his throat, he announced, "I want to take you out sometime."

Justifiably surprised, Kagome blinked. "You don't think I'm despicable?"

Kaoru offered her a shrug. "I think you're despicable, but even the worst people have to eat, right?"

"That's not funny," said Kagome, frowning.

Kaoru grinned at her, teasingly. "I know, I know. But I do want to take you out."

"Really?" Kagome said, tentatively.

"Yup," answered Kaoru, and rose to his feet. He was probably going to be dismissed from the _Host Club_ for sneaking off and neglecting his duties, but Kagome was distracting him and… maybe he could use her as an excuse, eh?

"Let me call my driver," began Kaoru, and Kagome's jaw dropped beside him.

"Your _driver_? Oh, boy."

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"I don't see why you came over to see _me_."

Kikyou sat cross-legged on the twenty-year-old's bed. His room was _way_ different from Inuyasha's room. Inuyasha had a thing for bright colors, like fire truck red, striking golds, and the like. Sesshomaru's was plain, on the professional side, and the lighting sucked.

But it was like a hideaway to Kikyou. She had only been in Sesshomaru's room three other times, each time accompanied by her boyfriend, and each time they were both kicked out of his room pretty exaggeratedly. She was almost _promised _Inuyasha wouldn't catch her—he wouldn't step foot in Sesshomaru's room unless he was _really_ fucking desperate.

Kikyou felt blessed that she had made it into their house _and _into Sesshomaru's room without Inuyasha catching scent of her. He had a knack for knowing someone was coming before they were really there.

Sesshomaru wasn't, in any way, a friend. But Kikyou needed both the feeling of having someone near (not necessarily to _talk_ to, but just to have close) and being able to keep herself at arm's length from them (because talking about her feelings wasn't really Kikyou's style), as well. Sesshomaru fit the bill.

Sighing quietly, Kikyou replied, "I have nowhere else to go."

"Why come here?" asked the older brother. He was impossibly tall, leaning back against his wall. In his hands was college level homework—it looked like he was working on it before Kikyou had called. "Inuyasha's down the hall."

"I know that," replied Kikyou, penetratingly.

Sesshomaru glared at her for a second (a dark look, which Kikyou returned just as darkly) and took a seat at his computer desk. He scrolled through what looked like a date book, clicked a few things, and exited.

Kikyou sat in (semi-comfortable) silence on his bed until Sesshomaru startled her. "Let's go for a ride."

His car keys jingled in his hand.

"Okay," said Kikyou, realizing that she had no place anywhere.

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"Where are we going?" asked Kagome, chewing on her lip.

She was in a stranger's car, she was in a stranger's car, she was in Kaoru's car, yikes, how did that switch? Gah, this was a life-threatening situation, and she _tried_ to trick herself into realizing that, but all she could muster up was weird little conversations in her head about Kaoru's unusual hair-do that kind of caught her eye.

Oh, forget it. She didn't care anymore, even if he was a murderer, bent on raping and killing her, only because he was kind enough to listen to her stupid story and ask her out.

Hmm. Okay, bad example, but you get the point, yeah?

Kaoru's driver took a right and flung Kagome across the back of the car. Kaoru watched her in slight… amusement.

"We're going out of town, to a little restaurant me and Hikaru came across a couple months ago with Haruhi. It's really good, I think you'd like it. You do like Western-styled restaurants, ne?"

Kagome shrugged. "I don't hate them?"

"That's good." Kaoru grinned. "I don't hate them either."

"So," said Kagome, to avoid awkward silences. "What do you think about our project?"

"I've got good vibes," replied Kaoru. He had worked on it a little bit in their free period while Kagome chatted with some of the random background characters. Kaoru, however, seeing how it was important to their grade average, worked enthusiastically on it. It counted as much as a test did (more than a quiz, less than a final) and he didn't want any more bad grades (he was terrible at math, ugh). "We can start filming whenever the Music Room is free. Will your parent—um, grandfather—mind if you stayed out a little late sometime?"

Kagome blinked, reassuring her straying mind that he didn't mean it like _that_, sheesh. "Uh, no, he won't mind. He's so old he mistakes the cat for me sometimes."

"That's cute," commented Kaoru, his eyes focused on something through the car window.

Kagome gave him a funny look. Kaoru didn't notice it at all.

"How much longer?" piped Kagome, feeling odd.

Kaoru turned to look back at her. "Maybe twenty, or fifteen minutes. Not too long."

"Well, do you wanna play a game?" suggested Kagome, feeling the beginning symptoms of boredom.

Kaoru eyed her. "If it has anything to do with license plates, spying, or whatever's outside that window—_sure_."

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"We've been driving for fifteen minutes," said Kikyou, annoyed. Sesshomaru usually had this air around him that calmed her down (wayyy different from Inuyasha's fiery attitude) but being trapped inside his car for longer than ten minutes was grating on her patience.

Sesshomaru wasn't in any way _close _to Kikyou. Not in any traditional ways, anyway. He didn't pay her much attention—Kikyou was with Inuyasha, and that was that, not that he'd care if she weren't—but seeing her crumpled on his bed, a miserable look on her pretty face…

He'd _had_ to do something.

He wasn't a nice guy, by any means. He didn't care if he stomped on someone to get somewhere. He didn't agonize over _feelings_, whatsoever, but Kikyou had struck something inside of him with her most obvious depression.

He didn't even really _like _the girl.

So, when Kikyou decided that whining about the amount of time they had spent driving East to nowhere, Sesshomaru had to force himself to react calmly and not… throw her out of the car or something.

Truthfully, both of them had an equal amount of impatience within them, and both of them weren't as quick to anger as their counter-parts (Inuyasha to Sesshomaru, Kagome to Kikyou), but neither of them had really interacted with the other over the years.

"Shut up and let me drive," replied Sesshomaru, his voice containing no sign of anger or annoyance, even though he clearly gave off the atmosphere. Kikyou sort of nodded, turning her thoughts to something other than what was currently bothering her.

"Fine, just don't kill either of us," was what she said next, her dark eyes glued to something outside of the car. She watched a deer scurry back into the woods beside the highway.

She thought about how that deer would eventually meet it's death on that highway.

"I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing," Sesshomaru said, after a minute. Kikyou sensed the lack of sincerity in his voice.

"Any idea where you're taking me?" she asked, rubbing her hands in her lap.

Sesshomaru's eyes flickered over to hers. "Yeah."

"Am _I _allowed to know?" said Kikyou.

The twenty-year-old pressed his foot down and sped up. "Not until we get there."

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"We're here!" yapped Kaoru, smiling.

Kagome clapped, "About time!"

The restaurant was cute. It was brown, not too big, and had a number of cars in it's parking lot. None of the cars were as fancy as Kaoru's car, though. There were bright green plants beside the entry way, with leaves almost as big as Kagome. She admired them as they walked through the heavy doors.

Out of the corner of her eye Kagome caught a glimpse of a silver car, shinier than all of the other cars parked, sitting dormant beside a tree. The car was kind of familiar…

"Come on, Kagome," said Kaoru, tugging at her wrist. "They know me here, so we'll get a table in no time."

She followed him meekly through a maze of tables and couples and chairs to a charming little two-seater table in the back of the restaurant. The waiter came and asked for their drink orders; Kaoru ordered a water; Kagome ordered a cherry cola.

"So," said Kaoru, after taking a sip from his water. "Are you a vegetarian?"

Kagome blinked. "Not really."

"Good," continued Kaoru, "the entire menu is Western-styled."

Kagome assumed what Kaoru was trying to say was that Westerners weren't into vegetarianism… or something like that. "Um, do you know what you're going to get?"

Kaoru leaned to the side, presumably to tug at the tight fabric around his ankles (maybe they were uncomfortable?) and Kagome's eyes glanced past him, landing momentarily on a couple, seated along the wall at the other end of the restaurant.

"Not really… maybe I'll get a steak, maybe," Kaoru was saying, but Kagome was positively not paying any attention.

Instead, her focus was solely on that… weirdly familiar couple.

Both of them had eerily dark hair (freakin' familiar hair, wtf), although the only one she could fully see was the boy/man. He looked like he'd be about six foot one if he stood up before her, his hair straight and long. Kagome's eyes weren't what they used to be, but she could kind of make out his face…

"Oh my fu—" Okay, listen. Kagome was _not_ going to say 'fuck' just then. She was planning on saying 'fudge' or something also harmless, yet similar.

But she could have _easily _replaced that 'fudge' with 'fuck' after realizing who was sitting across the (totally isolated and unknown) restaurant from her and Kaoru.

"Kaoru," gasped Kagome, reaching across the table to lean him to the side again when he resumed his original spot. "That's Inuyasha's older brother, oh my _god_."

Kagome panicked then, her skin prickling and her hair standing straight. If Sesshomaru was there… than Inuyasha must be there, too. And Kagome couldn't _possibly_ look at that boy without having a freakin' rush of emotions smush her flat.

And she didn't want to embarrass herself. She had lived approximately sixteen years with constant humiliation—she wanted to go on _one_ date without being mortified.

She glanced back at Kaoru. He was staring at her with this funny look on his face… Kagome sighed inwardly. Maybe she wouldn't get that awesome, embarrassment-free date after all.

Her eyes left his face excruciatingly slowly, darting back to examine Sesshomaru's usual expression; calm, composed, albeit slightly intimidating. The chill running up her spine made her wonder if he actually noticed her there, staring at him.

Suddenly, a thought passed through her mind. Who was the chick?

Did Sesshomaru always have a girlfriend?

One with such… _pretty_ hair?

Kagome's eyes studied the back of the girl's head, squinting slightly while the waiter came back and asked Kaoru for his order and giving Kagome a more time.

"Are you okay?" asked Kaoru, his features twisted into a displeased look.

Kagome ignored him.

That _hair_.

"Kagome?"

A waiter approached Sesshomaru's table, standing directly between the two of them seated there, and the girl turned her head to look up at the server…

Kagome stood up, swiftly, knocking a fork and empty coffee mug off of the table.

"What's wrong?"

Sesshomaru's waiter looked over, followed by Sesshomaru (who _totally_ noticed her), and finally…

"I have to get out of here," muttered Kagome, her face burning.

She had looked _directly_ into her eyes.

Kaoru frowned, and followed Kagome's line of sight. He turned slightly in his chair, just enough to let him see over his right shoulder.

The source of Kagome's discomfort was that girl? Kaoru squinted his eyes at her, wondering privately what was so terrifying about her. She looked just like any other girl.

Ah, but upon closer inspection, Kaoru noticed two things. One: she did not, in fact, look just like _any_ other girl, but instead looked exactly the same as Kagome. And, two: the look on her face, to anyone else, would have simply came off as anger or hatred—but, no, not to him. He could see the feeling behind the feeling.

He could see her _sadness_.

Before Kaoru could've said anything, Kagome had pushed back her chair and scampered out the front door.

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damn it. cliffy 2.0. forgive me?  
and review, damn it. or i'll start breaking skulls.  
kidding!


	5. chapter five

**Oddity**  
by shannello

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**a/n: **well, everybody. this chapter follows a strict procedure: more drama, less plot. _hurrah_. oh, and i moved this story to the cross-over category. just to make it look better.

also: thank you to all of the reviewers so far, especially those who reviewed the last chap. sanestinsanest (ily), itoma, livi-kunxXxchibi-chan, loonalily, bloodcherry, and, of course, you **eh :)** i'm very fond of that one right there.  
haha, it's you people who made me continue with this stupid thing. i love you all and thank you for _reviewing_.

this story is losing it's popularity! ugh, how depressing. and i was just getting to the good parts, too...D:  
well, um, just review and we'll kickstart the old plot and get back on track, ne?

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There was one specific thing Kaoru remembered constantly, and that was the color of the sky on one particular day_._

The sentence above pertains to one day, several years ago, when Kaoru had decided to live exclusively for Hikaru. It was sometime in January, and he could remember the way the wintry sun streamed into the house through the blinds. The sky was a pale grey, almost purple. Hikaru was napping at the table, his head placed face-down in his arms, and Kaoru sat quietly beside him.

They were young skinny things; Kaoru was slightly thinner than Hikaru. He had a tendency of feeding his brother the majority of his portion at suppertime. Oh, although their parents couldn't see it _Hikaru_ could. Kaoru was painfully obvious to him.

Hikaru was presumed unconscious. "Mom isn't going to appreciate you sleeping at the table, Hikaru," said Kaoru. His brother didn't reply.

Feeling confident, Kaoru sat beside him and mumbled on about nothing in particular, something about this, and something about that. He asked Hikaru what he was dreaming about, what he wanted for his birthday, little things like that, and when he didn't get any answers Kaoru stopped and focused on his brother's dormant expression. "Hikaru," said the boy, wiping the crud from his eyes. "I love you."

"I've always loved you," added Kaoru, certain. "I'll continue to love you until I die."

It was a bold, heroic thing to do, or at least it was in Kaoru's nine-year-old eyes, but he was proud nonetheless.

He had professed his ill-fated love to his brother. He felt as if he could fly to the _moon_.

—and out there in space, Hikaru happily returned his feelings.

The next morning, Hikaru napped at the table routinely, and Kaoru enjoyed the small moment in which the fictional relationship they shared was real.

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"Is everything okay?" asked the waiter, upon returning with their drinks. Kagome had previously occupied the chair opposite of Kaoru's but had decided that taking a pre-dinner jog was a sensible and level-headed idea. Kaoru attempted to pretend she wasn't crazy.

"Um, she needed some air?" muttered Kaoru, nervously. Well? What else could he say? She just had a slight mental break-down and had to skedaddle? _Unacceptable_. The waiter looked indecisive, and easily put-off by commotion... It probably wouldn't be the best idea mention anything uncanny and scare the kid out of the profession.

The waiter glanced at the doorway, squinted his eyes, then bowed slightly. "Ah, well, I'll just leave her drink."

"Thanks," said Kaoru. He moved Kagome's coaster with two fingers into the middle of the table and the waiter placed the cola down before walking to a different table across the room.

So.

There he was.

Just sitting there.

_Alone_.

"What a date," commented Kaoru, placing his chin carefully in the palm his hand. Kagome was off running from her sister/fears/sister's boyfriend's brother and Kaoru was, of course, waiting like always.

God, waiting was nonsensical. Kaoru tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table, his mind running in several different directions. For a brief moment he thought about Kagome's predicament, but then he got a whiff of his brother's favorite dish and his thoughts did a 180.

Suddenly he was overran by a rush of feelings, particularly bad ones, that led him to the conclusion: he was never going to be able to admit to Hikaru. Ever.

Which _kind_ of depressed him. But… not for too long. His slump was postponed when a tall, pretty Kagome-look-a-like approached his table and bowed politely before him. She was uber cute, but looked so mature and tidy. Like, Kaoru predicted she took up to thirty minutes straightening her hair that morning (and considering how wavy Kagome's hair was, she probably spent a little more than that).

Slightly uneasy (Kagome's sister had a certain _air_ around her), Kaoru cleared his throat and said, "Hello there."

The girl, Higurashi Kikyou, wouldn't meet his eye.

This was considered polite to some old Japanese men, but to Kaoru it was a sign of inferiority, or anxiety, or _both_. As he watched Kikyou's pretty Kagome-eyes flutter away from the direction of his he kind of felt put-off.

Kaoru was a firm believer in eye-contact. It was a lost art, but a beautiful one, and he studied it religiously and generally practiced it whenever possible. When someone objected to his _expertise_, Kaoru couldn't help but feel out-of-place.

When Kikyou's eyes flickered back at his for a brief moment, meeting his bright eyes for less than a microsecond, he felt an actual _jolt_ lance through him. It was reinvigorating.

"Hello," started the girl, not as awkwardly as, maybe, she should have been. "Sorry for intruding, but, the girl you were with? That was Kagome, wasn't it?"

Kaoru eyed the long sections of straight black hair that covered her shoulder as she leaned forward expectantly. Was there a limit to what he was allowed to tell her? Possibly, seeing how Kagome had made a dash for it, as if it was a life-or-death situation. Which, actually, it could have been.

"Um, yeah," said Kaoru, his eyes darting to the door. "That was Kagome."

Kikyou's eyes grew downcast. "I'm Kikyou, her sister, obviously."

"I hadn't noticed," remarked Kaoru, unaware he was being casual with the enemy. Kikyou was awfully fascinating.

Kikyou looked dispassionate, despite Kaoru's semi-flirting. "Um, who are you?" asked the girl, as bluntly as she could while keeping it mildly courteous.

Kaoru blinked. "Hitachiin Kaoru."

"I'm sorry," apologized Kikyou, and Kaoru stared at her curiously. Honestly, he had no idea why she was saying sorry. "I don't talk to Kagome, at all, anymore. I don't know _anything_ about her life."

Kaoru gave Kikyou a once-over. God, she looked like she was about to _disappear_—she seemed fragile, and weak, and was _bony_. If it weren't for her pretty face or dark hair, Kaoru wouldn't have guessed she was Kagome's _twin_ sister.

But, it wasn't just her stature that differenced the two. Kikyou was stiff and her eyes were deep and vulnerable.

She was just _sad_.

Kaoru took a sip from his water and swallowed difficultly.

Placing down his glass, Kaoru glanced at the man sitting alone at Kikyou's table. He wasn't _the_ Inuyasha. No, that was his _brother_? Kikyou was with Inuyasha's (her _boyfriend_) brother. _Peculiar_…

Out of the corner of his eye, Kaoru noticed Inuyasha's brother standing slowly, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket, and disappearing out the front door.

Kikyou looked down suddenly, and Kaoru feared she could read his thoughts (she looked like the type of female that could do that). "Are you seeing her?"

"Seeing her? Like _seeing_ her?" asked Kaoru, uncomfortably. He never _seen_ girls. Everyone knew that. So, because of that reason and that reason only, he answered with a resound "_No_."

Without even _thinking_.

Kikyou turned her head furtively. "Oh, really."

Maybe she didn't believe him.

Kikyou bore her eyes into Kaoru's.

Maybe it was better if she _didn't_.

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She was on her knees.

Outside of the restaurant.

It was _weird_.

Honestly, while Kagome kneeled there, panting, all she could think about was how odd the sensation of parking lot gravel hard-pressed into the flesh of her kneecaps happened to be. It was interesting for a short moment, successfully distracting her from her current predicament, until, eventually, her knees began to hurt.

Maybe someone else out there would have taken that as a symbolic precursor to something even _more_ unpleasant. Maybe the oddity about it would have concerned someone else.

Kagome gripped the painful stones that were pressing uncomfortably into the palms of her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. None of it mattered. Nothing was idiosyncratic, or symbolic, or _odd_. She was just a stupid girl trying to distract her brain from zooming out and looking at the Big Picture. She was just a little whore, a terrible sister, and possibly the worst girl in Japan.

Kagome choked back a sob. Kikyou, Kikyou, _Kikyou_.

Through the haze of her catastrophe, Kagome could barely make out the sound of the restaurant's door opening. The crunching of gravel under expensive shoes and that little noise a lighter made when you used it followed suit.

"What are you doing?" came a stiff voice.

She unclosed her eyes and peeked up at the guy bothering her. Ah, 'course.

_Sesshomaru_.

"Hey," squeaked Kagome, visibly embarrassed. She avoided his eyes like the plague, but, knowing Sesshomaru, he probably wasn't even looking at her. "I'm, um—oh, I don't even know."

"Kikyou wants you dead," said Sesshomaru, dispassionately.

Kagome grimaced. "I _know_."

She listened to him inhale and exhale his cig for a couple seconds. It was comforting, actually, listening to the rhythmic pattern of his breathing. Kagome had never really interacted with this guy, however, she _had_ been stuck with him numerous times whenever Kikyou and Inuyasha paired off and abandoned her.

They didn't talk much, but Sesshomaru had a calming atmosphere, which positively _sucked_ for him since he hated people in general. All he wanted was for people to leave him the fuck alone, but _no_. Weirdoes radiated toward him or something. It was a _disaster_.

He once told her, one afternoon when they were, unfortunately, stuck together, "I hate living here. Inuyasha's psychologically retarded and fucking _kids _I don't know follow me around when I go out." It was the most he'd ever said to her.

Kagome noticed the lack of Sesshomaru whenever she went out after that conversation.

"You're thinking too much," muttered Sesshomaru gruffly. He flicked his cigarette to the ground and crushed it into the dirt with his shoe.

"Well? What else can I _possibly_ do?" cried Kagome, eyes moist.

Dangerously, Sesshomaru turned and faced her. "You can stop being a child."

Kagome glared at him angrily before squeezing her eyes shut again. She placed her face in her hands and just—_cried_.

She wasn't sure when Sesshomaru went back inside the restaurant, or if he just sat in the car and waited, or if Kikyou had ever walked by her, watching. Kagome may have glanced up and noticed she was completely alone, or she may have hallucinated doing so.

It wasn't until two lifetimes of crying had passed her by when Kaoru reached out and pulled her into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder.

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The car ride home was generally silent.

Kaoru asked repeatedly if she was 'okay' at different intervals throughout the entire fifteen to twenty minutes, but aside from that they were exceptionally quiet and very shy.

Kagome sat with her forehead pressed against the window. She watched the scenery blur by until her grandfather's house came into view. Her heart pounded violently in her chest at the sight. She was _safe_.

She wasn't _home_, but at least Kikyou couldn't get her _here_.

She was painfully relieved, considering how unwilling she was to mend things with Kikyou. Fat chance, Sesshomaru.

Just _glancing_ at Kikyou scared the living shit out of her. Kikyou had some kind of death glare, which, although captivating, had the ability to render one helpless, petrified, and sobbing (all of which, Kagome had been that afternoon).

It was terrifying. Kagome was so _scared_.

In her eyes, her grandfather's house probably looked like a sanctuary, or a haven, or cloud nine, compared to the miniature hell she visited that that (in the form of a cute little restaurant—one she would never ever ever visit ever again).

Oh, boy. Her head was swimming as the car pulled up to her grandfather's door. She couldn't quite remember telling Kaoru where she lived but she figured she must have mentioned her address sometime during their blossoming friendship.

_Kaoru_. He was freakin' sweet. A gentleman, really. But she was slightly traumatized and didn't feel up to a heartfelt parting.

And, although she knew she'd feel like a total chump, Kagome simply placed her hand atop of Kaoru's, said "Sorry about everything. I'll see you tomorrow?" and slid out of the car and into the house.

Just like in the movies, Kagome leaned back against the front door, paused in that position, and slowly slid down into a heap.

What.

A.

Day.

All Kagome wanted to do was undress, crawl into bed, and sleep for the next twenty-five years. Waking up in her forties didn't seem that bad.

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"Kagome, _Kagome_, wake up."

Kagome rolled over.

"Hey, don't you ignore me."

Cue sleepy moan.

"_Ka_gome."

She reluctantly cracked open one eye. She had better been forty. "Oh, grand_paaaa_. What do you want? It's too early to… talk…"

Ah, dream-land. Looks like Kagome purchased a round-trip ticket!

"Higurashi Kagome, WAKE UP!"

Sorry, Kagome. Looks like the bus crashed.

Grumpily, the girl attempted to sit up. "Mou, grandpa. I thought I asked you last night if I could stay home today?"

Her grandfather laughed. "No granddaughter of mine is missing school this earlier in the year. You don't have a fever, or a cough, or blood in your urine, or any unintentional amputations, or—"

"OKAY, I get the picture, spare me, please," begged Kagome, half-heartedly.

"Well, if you're really sick, just call home and I'll send Suu-chan after you."

Kagome blanched. Suu-chan was one of her grandfather's hired hands, and a grotesque one, at that. She was probably in her fifties, looked like she could have been born sometime during the Feudal Era, and always ate onions _raw_. Who did that, really?

Couldn't people just—

Kagome sighed. Man, it was _way _too early to analyze the weirdness of some people (Suu-chan, in particular, but anyone who ate onions _raw_ was fair game). Oh, dear, she looked at _it_.

The pillow looked deliciously plump.

Gradually, while her grandfather's back was turned, Kagome slumped down and allowed herself to enfold the soft cushion. Oh, there you go… Kagome fluently pulled her comforter over her body and turned the ignition.

Dream-land, here we come.

"KAGOME!" erupted her grandfather. "Get out of bed right now!"

Groaning, Kagome pulled her weak body out from under the covers and drooped to her feet. Education was the last thing on her mind, but apparently it was on the top of her do-to list. WTF.

Mechanically, Kagome pulled a brush through her hair, dressed accordingly, and wiped the crud from her eyes. She fumbled through her purse for mascara, found it, and applied. She did everything semi-unconscionably. She was _so_ sleepy.

The Kikyou-Scare had really weighed her down. She felt inexplicably weak, her eyelids felt heavier than she was used to, and she had a little, sharp pain in the middle of her abdomen.

And, as if she had simply blinked, suddenly she was walking into Ouran, her yellow uniform hugging her comfortably. Students shuffled by on either side of her, the girls brushing her gently with their bodies.

The people were nice, if not slightly unintelligent, and Kagome liked most of them. She didn't know any of them extensively enough to consider them as _friends_, except for Kaoru, but… he was currently hiding himself from her or something. She had already been inside the building for a solid five minutes and she hadn't seen him anywhere. Him, _or_ Hikaru-san, which was odd, because Hikaru was everywhere in the morning.

They had a_ lot _of friends.

…so many, in fact, that maybe Kagome was just another friend on the list. Just another patron, waiting her turn to sit with the Hitachiin twins, observe their dramatics, and fall in love, exactly like everyone else.

Feeling oddly negative, Kagome stared at the floor as she walked to her first class.

It… it _couldn't_ be true, could it? Did Kaoru take all of his new friends out to eat after school (_Ah_, Kagome didn't even eat dinner last night! So _that_'s why she was starving…)? Was he just trying to secure her position as a client?

Kagome sighed. She really hoped not.

Kaoru was her only friend.

That… and they had a project to finish together, and she still hadn't written anything of worth about e. e. cummings' moronic poetry. She prayed that Kaoru still liked her and was at least a _little _more articulate than she was.

Taking her seat, Kagome tried to read the kanji scrawled on the chalkboard but found herself momentarily dyslexic. She decided to give up for a second and try again later, placing her face into her arms on the desk.

Around her, students began filing into the classroom, taking their respective seats. There was that odd boy with a long, black braid... that Kagome couldn't stand, honestly. He was a handful. Yesterday, during Creative Writing, the punk decided it was a smart idea to flick little paper balls at Kagome. Then he took to jabbing her in the side with his pencil, which he called 'Banryu'. What an unusual person.

Predictably, there was loud, obnoxious laughter resounding outside the classroom door. Kagome peeked up.

That sounded like Hikaru.

Walking very, very close to him was his younger brother, Kaoru. Kagome felt a pang of jealousy… and, eww, quickly reprimanded herself for thinking in just a ludicrous manner because, well, _brothers_.

Kaoru looked cute, obviously, but there was something off about him... in which Kagome just couldn't put her finger on. It looked like Kaoru had to force the muscles in his face to allow himself just to _glance_ over at Kagome, take notice of her, and remember to sit at _his_ desk, not Haruhi's.

He almost _didn't_ sit at his own desk. Hikaru took his seat and Kaoru hovered around him, grinning happily, eyeing Haruhi's open desk beside Hikaru's.

Kagome shot him an unintentional look.

_Mou_, something was really off about him.

Kagome scanned his face for any clues, any signs or traces of wrong-doings or _something _and—

There it was.

Kaoru was _blushing_.

Speechless, Kagome sat quietly while Kaoru took the seat beside her, a fat, happy grin plastered across his features. He poked her.

"Hey there," started the boy, overtly joyful. Something shifted in his brain and a knowing look conquered his merry expression. _Kikyou_. "How… how are you?"

Kagome ignored him for 4.2 seconds before losing her will-power and turning to face him. "What? I'm okay, just sleepy. But, what's going on?"

Kaoru eyed her. "What—do you mean?"

"I mean, your face is _pink_," barked Kagome, without noticing how interested in the situation she really was.

Kaoru paused. He _was _warm, or, at least, warmer than usual. "Um, well—"

"Never mind," blurted Kagome. "I don't want to know."

Kaoru blinked. Behind Kagome and a couple desks away, Hikaru was busy scribbling something down on a piece of scrap paper. He held it up and seized Kaoru's attention, and his younger brother leaned to the side and looked past Kagome.

Kagome felt herself sink into her desk.

Kaoru, after reading Hikaru's paper, felt his heart jump into his throat.

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What The Paper Said: "I heard what you said this morning."


	6. chapter six

**Oddity  
**by shannello

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**a/n: **quickest update ever. i'm really happy that there's ACTUAL people out there who read this! ah! even though it's completely unrealistic and gay and shit! woo! just so everyone knows, kagome's been there for a couple of days. i'm not sure if you all knew this. haha. it's been at least a week. haha. aaaaand, well, while everyone's thinking kaoru's FINALLY going to get with hikaru... okay, i can't give away anymore. just read. :) if you like it, send me a review and i'll love you foreverrrrr. ps: if anyone read Phenomenon... i'm continuing it. just to let you know.

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At that point, Kaoru had three options:

a) jump out the second story window  
b) bow humbly and kiss his brother's feet  
c) act casual

…all of which seemed nearly _impossible_ at that moment. How in the seven circles of Hell was he supposed to be capable of 'acting casual', or even just _moving_, really, when the only thing he'd ever selfishly wanted was acknowledging his, well, _love_? It was simply unspeakable.

Hikaru gave a smirk, pursing his pink lips attractively, and promptly placed The Sheet of Paper face-down. _That_ was being smooth. _That _was keeping it suave. _That _was how Kaoru should have been able to react—if it weren't for the huge pink elephant in the room.

Hikaru_ knew_, now, _finally_, and that was just the beginning of it all.

Now there would be awkward conversations, nervous glances from across the classroom while they gave each other _space_, and that annoying pounding sensation in Kaoru's chest whenever Hikaru gave him a once-over. Potentially, a rush of endorphins could be released at any given moment, similar to chocolate. The perfect combination of sugar and fat which single-handedly triggers a chemically-induced sense of happiness. In Kaoru's case, the sugar and fat which chocolate derives from were the corners of Hikaru's mouth turned up into a smile and that greedy, infatuating look in Hikaru's eyes…

…that look that made younger women swoon and older women fan themselves silly.

Kaoru chewed his lip unconsciously. Was jumping out the second story window still an option?

Suspiciously, Kaoru scanned the classroom. He was experiencing that 'entire room melts away and disappears into a black, endless chasm, except for me and you' phenomena. Kaoru wasn't sure if he liked it or not… Hikaru's all-too-knowing glance was giving him shivers and he kind of wanted to rewind the day until breakfast time and stop himself from saying anything potentially dangerous. Such as 'I love you, Hikaru.'

Kaoru let his head slide into his arms. Hikaru was probably still eyeing him, observing his every move, and every inch of his every move.

Was that a shiver he just felt crawl up his spine?

_Where's the teacher? _thought Kaoru, anxiously staring at the door, as if to will his professor into the room. That _was_ possible, wasn't it? …eh, couldn't hurt to _try_.

So, while Kaoru practiced The Art of Willing Good Things to Happen, Kagome slumped into her chair.

If yesterday was Judgment Day, today had to be the post-apocalypse morning in which everything seemed to be calm and salvageable… when, of course, they were nuked a _second_ time. _They_ being Kagome, her nerves, and her patience, respectively.

Okay, being honest here, Kagome wasn't an investigator of any sorts. Sure, she could sometimes solve the usual math problem (_usual_ meaning _easy_ in that sentence), but it was out of her mindset to stay focused on one thing while this was going on and that was happening later and, holy smokes, Buyo brought _what_ into the house this morning? She was lucky if she could finish her entire crap-load of homework.

But, however, in this specific circumstance, Kagome realized what exactly was going on. On her _first_ try.

So. Kaoru really _was _in love with his brother.

She… didn't know quite how to feel. They had gone over the 'I'm not sleeping with my brother, don't worry, Kagome' thing, but—oh boy, this was going against _everything_ Kaoru had said to clear that mishap up. It was almost comical, but, honestly, the blush never lied.

You might be able to lie, endlessly, to Kagome, through your very _teeth_, but the blush, however, could _not_.

That may as well have been her motto, since Higurashi Kagome was notorious for a light pink shade. Available (Monday to Sunday) for humiliating incidents, crushing realizations, sudden, weak-kneed enamor, and embarrassing chew-outs. Please have money ready.

For all she knew, Kagome could have been blushing at that very _moment_. It certainly was humiliating (for a second time_!_), semi-crushing, reduced her straight spine to mush in her seat, and caused a little discomfort. In her _everywhere_.

Her very chair felt like it made of stone or something, sending little jolts of pain up her spine and into the back of her neck and _ow_, did it freakin' hurt.

Kagome let out a well needed sigh. This was how it was going to be, then? She was doomed to continuously bear a high regard for unattainable boys, whether they were taken by someone who'd shared the same womb with her, or were flaming homosexuals underneath their cool, collected façade.

And, oh, how _sick_ Kagome was of false pretenses.

Was it too much to ask for a little freakin' _break_?

Her eyes flickered over to Kaoru's. She noted the 'it's just you and me, baby' look on his face and mewled helplessly.

Oh, come _on_, now.

That was it.

In that one suspended, fleeting moment Kagome resolved to not give up on this one. It wasn't in her to give up, unless there were extreme consequences, and even in that situation it wasn't in her.

Kaoru may have been completely out of bounds at this point, but Kagome was a fighter.

And by God, she _would _fight.

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Eventually, Haruhi had filtered into the room—followed by the rest of the class and the teacher. In her arms were Tupperware containers of sweet potatoes, and on her mouth was the beginning of a smile.

The teacher settled into her desk and went about starting the lesson, as professionally as she could. Haruhi spent a couple moments at the front of the classroom, spewing nonsensical chatter with the professor, idly.

Kaoru remembered the time when he loved Haruhi, and the time he kissed her at the theme park, and the time he let her go. Then he thought about how happy he was back then, too, and started feeling sad.

_I did everything for Hikaru_, thought Kaoru, his chin snug in his hand. _I stopped loving someone for him. _

Kaoru's happiness was always second best to Hikaru's. His brother was more important than anything that particularly mattered to him and—

He loved Hikaru_ more_.

And now…

_Now_ Kaoru was finally getting what _he_ wanted most.

Recognition.

Acknowledgement.

Reciprocation. (?)

It was perfectly possible that Hikaru would excuse Kaoru and himself after class, pull his brother into the nearest empty classroom, and execute what every single female specimen in their academy would pay good money to witness.

And, well, _kiss_ him.

Kaoru had thought about it a lot.

They'd come so close to kissing after school, in the music room, but…

Kiss they did not.

He'd probably spent thirty minutes sitting at that desk, contemplating all of the possible scenarios (there was one particular one that included a Kyouya Ootori) in which Hikaru's lips would inevitably end up on his. The teacher was forced to bring him back to Japan, Earth more than once.

With little time left, Kaoru needed to design a plan. As soon as possible.

Preferably, before the bell rang.

Unlike his pretty, new friend, Kagome, Kaoru intended to do something about the tension between him and his twin brother.

Oh.

_Kagome_.

That reminded him.

He had… kinda ignored her for the past thirty minutes. Which was bad. Very bad. Kaoru knew girls, and he knew the workings of girls, and if you even showed, _remotely_, the signs of a cold-shoulder… _instant_ dead at the scene.

For all he knew Kagome could've been burning a hole into his skull with her _eyes_.

He artfully glanced to the side. Kagome's eyes were focused on the words in her text book. Noticing Kaoru's eyes on her, Kagome's flickered quickly in his direction and met up with his.

But, she wasn't giving him a death glare, thankfully.

She may have given him a small smile and promptly went back to reading her text book.

Kaoru eyed her for a moment longer, studying her profile.

She was really pretty and—omfg, there was only two minutes left of class.

Okay. Here's what he was going to do. He was going to march up to Hikaru, suggest they speak one-on-one somewhere private—the boys' room, perhaps? In the same stall?—and, well, converse.

And Kaoru was going to do just that. A minute passed, the bell rang, a surge of confidence filled Kaoru's chest and—and he was _ready_.

So… why was Kaoru suddenly being pulled to the side of the hallway, roughly, by a pair of small, _girlish _hands?

Was that Hikaru retreating down the hallway with Haruhi?

Who was—

"I just wanted to, well, I _needed_ to—" said a pretty voice, and Kaoru's eyes scanned the hands that were pinning him lightly to the side. Her yellow sleeves were like everyone else's, but her eyes were not.

_Blue_.

But Kaoru should have known that she, like every other girl, would start to fall in love with him because—

Suddenly, Kagome's mouth was being pressed into his.

And Kaoru was suddenly thinking Kagome wasn't like every other girl.

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It was a _first_.

A glorious, inappropriate first—which Kyouya would be absolutely _furious_ about—that Kaoru found himself happily participating in.

It was a normal occurrence for the girls of Ouran to _think_ approaching the boys and declaring their liking/love/sorry excuse for liking or loving, but none of them received any such declaration back because, well—

None of the boys ever really loved anyone back.

The girls were never romantically pulled into their love interest's arms, twirled in a circle, and given the smooch they dreamed about. _No_. That, right there, was something that never ever happened. Ever.

They usually received nothing more than a nod of acknowledgment, and then, with nothing more to do or say, watched their retreating back disappear around the corner.

Realizing they'd been rejected… they would do the only thing they knew religiously how to and _cried_.

They were never bold.

Or impulsive.

Or—_Kagome_.

Her soft, pink mouth was sucking lightly on his bottom lip, and Kaoru had momentarily forgotten everything he'd been worrying about for the past forty-five minutes. Hikaru had officially been wiped from his mind. Kaoru was focused solely on dominating the surprise kiss-attack and astonishing Kagome with the power of his mouth.

There were probably hundreds of kids in that specific hallway and news would reach the Shadow King in less time than it'd take for Kaoru to make it to his next class, but… Kaoru learned that Kagome was hard to oppose.

Even if he tried to disengage from her mouth Kaoru doubted he'd succeed.

_That_, and the fact that the kiss was actually pretty freakin' nice.

Kaoru found his hands moving automatically. One right behind her head, somewhere in her hair (which was really soft, actually) and the other on her shoulder. His thumb fingered her collar bone.

Her skin was especially smooth there.

It… suited her.

The lack of tongue also suited her… and so did the awkwardness her hands possessed as they attempted to find a comfortable place on his body. She kissed innocently, despite the forward approach she used, but… it was all believably _her_.

But, although he was officially the innocent one in the Hitachiin twin deluxe set, innocence just wasn't his style of kissing.

As his hand gripped tighter to her shoulder, Kaoru's tongue made its way into Kagome's mouth.

Her flicked hers playfully and, well…

He was _ecstatic_. Or, more accurately, his brain was ecstatic and released a little cyclic GMP and well… if you're into the biochemistry of the human body, you'll understand _completely. _

"Kawruu," mumbled Kagome, cutely.

Kaoru pushed his lower body into her unconsciously.

"Kaaaw_ruu_," repeated Kagome, this time a little more sternly.

Kaoru hesitantly removed himself. "Is there a problem?"

Kagome pointed _down_.

The boy blinked. Immediately, he knew.

Obviously, it was _her_ fault.

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Kaoru was definitely right.

About a lot of things.

Principally, 1. It _was_ Kagome's fault, and 2. Kyouya was freakin' enraged.

"You've humiliated the entire club," was one of the first things the Shadow King threw at him, followed closely by, "As a representative of this club, this stunt looks extremely bad on the rest of us, Kaoru," and, of course, "I hope you realize you'll have to compensate for this."

Probably the eeriest thing about his chew-out was how serious he spoke. He didn't _sound_ mad, per se, but it was in the freakin' glare of his spectacles. And that was the most terrifying part of it.

Being the first of the club to be kissed by someone from Ouran publicly, Kaoru wasn't certain about the unfortunate consequences. He was as good as dead.

"So, it wasn't your brightest idea," said a voice of sensibility. Haruhi was always there for him, although she had a tendency of saying something unconsciously and making the whole ordeal worse.

"It wasn't my idea, actually," replied Kaoru.

Haruhi looked away. "I highly doubt that."

Kaoru frowned. "Look at this face."

She did. "Not convinced, sorry."

"Come on," said Kaoru, holding up his hands. "I'm the innocent one here. My actions were _forced_. I responded in self-defense."

"Kyouya says you had—oh, Mother—never mind."

"No, go _on_. Tell me."

"Absolutely not. I've got something, um, to do."

"Haru_hi_! Was that hesitation I heard in your generally unwavering voice?"

Haruhi glance in a different direction. "No, I don't think it was."

There was something in her monotonous tone that Kaoru just _couldn't_ take seriously.

"Are you positive?" asked the red-haired boy, grinning.

"Of course not," said Haruhi, but the look in her pretty brown eyes suggested she wasn't talking about the hesitation in her voice. She sounded genuinely concerned, or at least a little cantankerous. "How am I supposed to know what's going on inside your head? I've got a better chance at interpreting Hikaru's motives than yours, Kaoru."

_Exactly_.

_That_, my dears, is exactly why—

"Everything okay over here?" came a voice matching his own, and Kaoru perked up. Hikaru walked over to where Kaoru and Haruhi were situated, currently Kagome-less. She'd gone to the bathroom a minute or so ago.

Before she had left, though, she had been sitting awfully close to Kaoru… and there were other _girls_ in Creating Writing! What would they thing? Seeing one of the _twins_, the twins who were known country-wide as the forbidden brotherly-love act, with a _girl_? How could one of them actually like a _girl_?

It was preposterous. Simply preposterous.

But… Kagome's mouth was really freakin' tempting, especially when it was mere inches from his. Now, Kaoru had to restrain himself when she was around.

_Kagome_. Kaoru knew his informality and, well, overfriendliness would imply he liked her. He _did_ like her. From the moment he met her he liked her. And, upon learning she liked him back, well… it should've been easy as pie, ne?

Of _course_ not.

Nothing was easy around here.

If Kaoru wanted actually participate in a forbidden brotherly-love act in real-time, would it be easy? No. If Kaoru wanted to kiss a girl in front of everyone, casually bringing their mouths together in a pleasant smooch… was he allowed to do so? Would it be as simple to do as it sounded?

Of course not.

And _Hikaru_.

With Hikaru knowing that Kaoru loved him from his toes to the tip of his head—everything was just a bit more awkward. Luckily, with Kagome's little body near his almost constantly Kaoru was able to avoid The Talk with his brother.

Oh lord. Earlier, he was _so_ ready for that freakin' talk.

Now, however, the mere thought of talking to Hikaru about the sexual-tension or whatever it was…

Kaoru swallowed. It'd have to wait. For, like, seventy years.

"Hey, Hikaru," said Haruhi, in her continuously monotonous tone.

The boy took a seat beside them on the rug. They were supposed to be working on their Creative Writing project, or, at least, _trying_ to work on it. Kaoru kept getting distracted, Haruhi kept bringing up personal business, Hikaru would probably start bugging his brother, and Kagome was… not available at the moment.

Hikaru started chatting mindlessly with Haruhi (?), and Kaoru took the opportunity to _think_ It was a unhealthy habit for someone like him, seeing how thinking led to planning and planning led to execution of said plan and, usually, execution of said plan led to the loss of something, usually something important to him, or someone else.

But, Kaoru wasn't looking to plan or execute. He wanted to _compare_.

_Kagome_ and Kaoru.

Kaoru and _Kagome_.

It sure was pleasant, wasn't it?He smiled. They were quite a pair, if he thought into it. From what he'd recently learned about Higurashi Kagome—her life was probably _as_ messed up as his. Her relationship with her sister was as atypical and awkward as his Hikaru's. They both loved someone they couldn't possibly attain, and both opposed their siblings by liking said person.

But they were both insanely different, too.

Kagome had stolen her sister's _identity_.

Kaoru had fallen in love with his _brother_.

So, he thought, was it okay for _them_ to be together?

While Hikaru talked to Haruhi, glancing at his brother from the corner of his eye, Kagome entered the room. Kaoru's heart began to pound.

Which was… _weird_.

But, Kagome—she was really pretty. She looked… _beautiful_, actually. Kaoru knew this, he knew this from the beginning (see chapter one), and he wanted to, well, _tell_ her.

Kagome took her place beside Kaoru, nice and snug, beside his thigh. Hikaru watched her warily, Haruhi wasn't too interested, and Kaoru—

He was _smiling_.

"Did you wait long?" was the first thing she asked him, smoothing down her uniform.

"Just my whole life," said Kaoru, playfully, and Hikaru made a gagging noise.

"Try to be at least a little creative, Kaoru," said his brother, wisely.

But… _Kagome_ liked it. Her cheeks were an adorable shade of pink.

"Kaoru," she warned, her eyes smiling. "We really have to _work_."

"Great idea, Higurashi-san," said Hikaru, darkly.

Kaoru tried not to think about his brother. He _loved_ him with all his heart… but Hikaru didn't have to be the only one who was happy, right? Kaoru had every right to expand his horizon. Every right to _try _to like someone else.

Because, well, he and Hikaru were going to be together for a very long time. It was _okay_.

"So, I was thinking—" babbled Kagome, leaning against him. She reminded him of an affectionate kitten. After warming up to you they're yours forever.

As Kagome brainstormed some production concepts, jotting down some key ideas on a notebook in front of them (since over the past few days their original notebook had been lost/abandoned/burned to a crisp or something of that nature), Kaoru relaxed.

He placed his hand on top of Kagome's. She squeezed back, instinctively, without taking her eyes off of their notebook and Kaoru realized that—

He _liked_ this.

And he wasn't going to discontinue for his brother's sake. Not again.

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Kagome Higurashi and Kaoru Hitachiin  
October 19, 2007

Creative Writing Project Ideas:  
Due: Nov. 1

1. Movie (about what? Kaoru help me out _please_)!  
2. Silent film?  
3. Gray scale!  
4. WE NEED FLOWERS, preferably falling/blowing in the wind? (is this possible?)  
5. The beginning of the movie should be shot at night (By midnight, a moon scratches the skin of the organised hills).  
6. The second part of the movie should be shot during the morning? afternoon? and the camera should be shaky, to illuminate a sense of hastiness (is that a word?). Or… a sense of spontaneity! PEOPLE RUNNING (away from the camera) - abandon, exhilaration.  
7. (I occasionally feel vague how vague idon't know) - slow down the camera? express the sluggishness not knowing puts on you.  
8. WHAT ELSE?  
9. Actors?  
10. Music?  
11. _Higurashi Kagome, will you go on second a date with me?  
_Why, yes, Hitachiin Kaoru. I would love to.  
_Fantastic. Where would you like to go?  
_Not sure. You pick.  
_I picked last time. It's your turn.  
_NOT SURE.  
_I insist!_  
Come on, I did all this work. You have to put a little effort into _something_.  
_Okay, fine. Wanna just come over after school?  
_Okayy :)  
_;)  
_What's that winky-face for? You pervert!  
_Fine I'll erase  
_Just leave it! You're smudging all of my hard work!  
_Ugh women.  
_Ugh men.


	7. chapter seven

**Oddity  
**by shannello

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**a/n: **finally updated :D aren't you happy? i sure am! anywho, this chapter is dedicated to two very special persons. 1. kyla, my wife, this is for you. and 2. faithhh, since you loved this story since '07, this is for you, too. enjoy the chapter, everyone :) and if you like it, let me know by pressing that gay little button at the end of the story.

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She'd be lying if she didn't say it was impossibly _huge_. And _long_. And _overwhelming_. And she felt a surge of electricity when Kaoru turned and put it in—

—her _view_, that is. His car pulled up to the mansion, which was beyond gorgeous, and Kagome nearly pinched herself for it couldn't be true, this had to be a dream, that mansion is too freakin' amazing, and so on.

Kagome's eyes widened a fraction.

Even the freakin' _door_ was gorgeous.

"We're here, milady," said Kaoru.

Kagome nodded, slowly.

The driver swung open their door and Kagome swore the scent of roses and love and _wealthy _came in from outside. The sun beat down on the back of her neck as she got out of the car and that too felt like rays of _gold_ instead of bland ol' crepuscular rays. Everything about the place gave off a otherworldly (which meant uber-rich) vibe.

It was around five, since Kaoru had to attend _Host Club_ activities after school (sneaking off periodically into the hallway to kiss Kagome fervently before slipping back inside undetected). Kagome had worked on their stupid movie/Creative Writing project while she waited for the club to conclude instead of going inside like a prospective customer. The whole forbidden brotherly-love act still… weirded her out.

But, on the bright side, she'd gotten tons done. She wrote out some of the script (and then erased it all because it was actually 'stupid, why did I write this?') and planned some of the major scenes.

She felt productive.

What a good feeling.

Unlike this 'Kaoru is incredibly rich and you are just a middle-class sometimes rich enough for the ultra ultra-rich commoner' feeling she was getting from just being around his freakin' gardenias.

"Mom's coming home tonight," said Kaoru, merrily. "You can get to know her, or something. She's really incredible."

Kagome was slightly intimidated. His _mother_? She was a freakin' fashion _designer_. Mecha-rich fashion designer. Kagome would probably pee herself if she had to strike up a conversation with someone so famous and smart and obviously gorgeous.

Kagome bit her lip.

Suddenly, Kaoru took her hand. "It's not as scary as it sounds, trust me."

She relaxed her shoulders and nodded.

His hand was _warm_.

"Yeah, okay," said Kagome, automatically.

Then—

"Hey, when's Hikaru coming home?"

Kaoru shrugged, slowly. "Later, sometime. He's at… Haruhi's right now, so he'll be back by dinner (he doesn't like Haruhi's commoner food)."

Kagome nodded, again. She eyed Kaoru's face—he looked slightly _blank_.

Kagome's heart sunk.

She let go of his hand.

She figured he'd keep walking in a melancholy manner or whatever suited his despondence, but he went against her speculations and paused instead. He glanced back at her. "Everything okay?"

Kagome blushed. "Um, yeah."

Kaoru took her hand.

His smile was enough to calm her—at least temporarily, lulz. Once they were inside the building, however, her entire body went _stiff_. A house shouldn't be allowed to be that pretty. It should've been illegal.

Because, holy shit, it was freakin' beautiful. _Lovely_, even. Kagome was floored.

_And this is just the entry way,_ thought Kagome, anxiously. What other pleasantries did this glorious house enclose? 24K gold railings? Emerald covered bed posts? Tables made from the _Queen Anne's Revenge's _watertight hull?

So many possibilities.

Kaoru led her through the rest of the house, and through a room that looked like it was the living room (what did insanely rich people call it? The Den?) and laughed nervously. The room was huge and obviously _awesome_ and Kaoru said, "Sorry."

Sorry?Kagome stared at him defiantly. "What?"

Kaoru scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. "Sorry it's a mess in here."

Kagome squinted at him.

There were maybe two note books on the coffee table, a couple of sketching pencils (one was on the floor if that made any difference), and random leafs of paper crumpled into little balls.

That was _it_.

Everything else was freakin' perfect.

Kagome held up a hand, incredulous. "Kaoru, it's not—"

"Let's just go upstairs," interrupted Kaoru, embarrassed. "At least _my_ room's clean."

It should have set of her uncool-for-a-second-date-move radar but being escorted to Kaoru's bedroom hadn't given her Spidey Senses a solitary tingle. Kagome _wanted_ to see his room, in fact, and was looking forward to passing through the insert-expensive-and-maybe-extremely-rare-gem-here studded door frames.

Thank goodness the elder twin wasn't around. He would have her head for this_!_ Probably literally. "You sure Hikaru won't hate me for being in your room?" asked Kagome, playfully.

Kaoru shrugged. "He moved out a couple weeks ago. He won't mind at all."

"Oh," muttered Kagome. That playful pass failed horribly. Moving on… "Anything embarrassing in here? Or did you have your 'people' remove it before I got here, hmm?"

Kaoru shot her a lighthearted glance. "Oh, totally."

"_Totally_?" repeated Kagome, eyebrow risen. "Now I'm oh so curious about it."

Kaoru sniggered. "If you can guess correctly maybe you'll win a prize."

"Really?" Kagome's eyebrows shot up.

"_Maybe_," repeated Kaoru. They reached his door. "It'd be a _really_ great prize, too."

Kagome poked the inside of her cheek as she thought. "Could it be… an embarrassing post card collection?"

"Mine's not that embarrassing," argued Kaoru, defiantly. "You could look at it if you want. Okay, go on, guess again."

They entered the bedroom. It was modern and clean and Kagome felt… comfortable. Kaoru shut the door behind them, in an unsuspicious manner.

"Oh, okay. Ahh, was it a stash of your maid's panties?"

"Ka_go_me," said Kaoru, watching her lamely. "Do I come off as some kind of pervert or something? It's better to let me know now that the only reason you like me is because you think I'm some kind of Richard Chase."

Kagome _laughed_. "I _don't_ have you pegged as a serial maniac, sorry."

"That's too bad," said Kaoru, cryptically. …And said nothing else.

For a long time.

Kagome felt goose bumps surface on her upper arms. "Kaoru… what's that supposed to—"

Kaoru laughed openly. "I'm _kidding_."

Kagome glared at him. "You're _cruel_, that's what you are."

He plopped down on his bed. "Don't be so _gullible _next time, sweetheart."

"You know what?" threatened Kagome, stomping over to him.

"_W_hat?" replied Kaoru, boyishly, emphasizing the 'ha' at the start of the word.

Kagome narrowed her death glare. "You're _so_ going down, chump." .

A cute slap/tickle fight ensued, followed closely by a string of lightheaded laughter. After a couple minutes of _Slap_, _Tickle_, _Laugh_, Kaoru grasped Kagome's wrists and stopped her movements completely.

"_Ha_," said the boy, smiling wickedly and leaning in. "Checkmate."

Kagome leaned in instinctively. "It's for the best, considering the _horrible _things I was just dying to do to you…"

They kissed, slow and sweet, and there was a untimely knock at the bedroom door.

_Hikaru_.

"_Oi_, kiddo. I'm back from Haruhi's."

The door swung open.

"We got in a fight over—"

He paused, uneasily, and took in the scene positioned in front of him.

Kaoru dropped Kagome's hands.

They hung awkwardly at her sides.

"—_Kagome_."

Kagome's chest tightened, as if on cue.

"Hika," chirped Kaoru, timidly.

"Kaoru," said Hikaru, his eyebrows drawn together. _What_ was going on—

There must have been something in Hikaru's shiny eyes that made Kaoru stand, turn slightly, and breathe out. "I'll be right back," he said, calmly. Kagome made no attempt to respond.

"We can stay," said Hikaru, bravely. "She should be here."

"Not for _this_," cried Kaoru. If Hikaru wanted to have The Talk—_The _Talk that Kaoru fussed about religiously for the past couple days—Kagome shouldn't be a witness to the debauchery that was… well, impending. Kaoru was bound to say a few things that brothers should never say to brothers, admit to a couple sinful desires, and plead guilty to a small number of awkward confessions. Kagome didn't have to hear all that.

"_Haruhi_ heard it," growled Hikaru, low and predatory. Part of him was still brotherly, however, and jealous.

"Kagome isn't Haruhi," Kaoru stated, firmly. "This is entirely different from what happened in Karuizawa."

"No, Kaoru, it's not. _She's_ invading and you're still doing the same thing—_nothing_."

"Kagome's not invading, Hikaru," said Kaoru, bright faced. "I _let_ her in."

"Kaoru, she's not—"

"You can't control everything, Hikaru. You're not God."

Hikaru blinked.

"I'm _happy_ when I'm with Kagome."

Kagome felt her cheeks heat up.

"And just because you're uncomfortable with this doesn't mean I'm going to drop her and move on. I've done that so many times, Hikaru, you probably don't even know about _half_ of them."

Kaoru stopped momentarily.

His heart was pounding inside of him. So, this wasn't The Talk. Maybe they were past The Talk and were on to bigger and better things. Like fighting over the same thing they've always fought over. It was a recurring theme in their arguements. A safe zone they could always go back to. _You're ignoring me for her_, or _you let her into _our_ world_, or we're_ supposed to be together forever_. _Nobody else_.

"I just—I _hate_ when this happens," admitted Hikaru, despondently. "We let someone into our lives and they hurt us, or leave us, or betray our fucking _tru__st_ and it never changes. It's always the _same_ and we always fall for it. I'm... I'm sick of watching you get hurt."

"You hurt me sometimes, too, you know," muttered Kaoru. "But I can't run away from you, or shut you out of my life—not like we do to other people. I can't run away from you because I know we're always going to be prominent in each other's life. And that's how I want it to be, Hikaru."

Hikaru looked injured, one hand risen defensively. But, instead of shouting, or running off, or barking at Kagome, Hikaru closed his eyes and _breathed_. "Come 'ere."

Kaoru obeyed, taking a few cautious steps toward his brother. Hikaru reached down and grabbed his left hand. Quickly, Hikaru pulled him into his chest.

In a muffled, strained voice, Hikaru choked, "I'll never get used to it, you know that, right? I'm so… I can't just pretend seeing you with other people doesn't piss me off because it _does_. It really does."

Kaoru wrapped his arms tightly around his brother. _Protectively_. "I know."

"I want you to be happy, though, so don't think that I don't," muttered Hikaru. "I just wanted to be the one to make you happy. When what's-his-name made Haruhi laugh like that I was so fucking angry. I wanted her to—"

Hikaru coughed. "Ugh, sorry." Here, he leaned to the side and glanced over Kaoru's shoulder. "Sorry Kagome."

Kagome, who was looking at something more interesting in the opposite direction, looked up and nodded. "It's okay."

They parted gradually. Kaoru kept his hands on Hikaru's forearms. "How was Haruhi's?"

Hikaru scoffed halfheartedly. "She gave me this spiel about selfishness, and my controlling-personality, and something other unpleasant factors that I don't feel like sharing."

Kaoru smiled. "That's my girl."

"It was enlightening, I guess, but I'm pretty sure she hates my guts at this point."

Kaoru cocked an eyebrow. "Did you say something condescending and then storm off?"

"Naturally."

Hikaru glanced away, embarrassed. Kaoru eyed him affectionately, and behind them Kagome watched with an odd fascination. A section of her heart broke off and _clunk _somewhere at the bottom of her chest and she thought about holding Kikyou like that. Just _talking_ to Kikyou like that. It made her feel inferior to the amount of brotherly love Kaoru and Hikaru had for each other.

They didn't want to share each other with anyone else, for crying out loud. Desperately didn't want to.

Kaoru flashed his brother a cheeky grin, and Kagome missed Kikyou even _more_.

Someday, she _knew_, someday she'd be the bravest she's ever been and fess up. She'd stop hiding and running and crying and just _go_.

Someday was soon, wasn't it?

Hikaru was messing up Kaoru's fiery mop, looking positively content with everything in the world.

Kagome sighed.

Dramatically.

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Hikaru stuck around for a little while after the fireworks, until a telephone beckoned for his answering. Turns out it was Haruhi. The chick really _had _a soul.

Or conscience? Either one worked just fine in allowing her to feel guilty, feel stupid, and finally, feel like picking up the tele and dialing 866-RICH-TWIN to apologize.

"Bye," said Hikaru, holding the cordless in one hand, covering the receiver with the other. He motioned toward Kaoru. "It's our sister."

Kaoru let him go.

It was easy as pie this time.

Kagome covered his hand with hers. They were sitting in the middle of his bedroom, surrounded by notebooks and scrap pieces of loose-leaf paper. The only things missing were _ideas_.

Hikaru had given them a little insight, actually, but had just decided to abandon them at their all time low. He'd need to be guerilla attacked at another time not yet specified.

"This project is coming out so _slow_," moaned Kagome, slapping her notebook flat on the floor. "I want to forfeit. Can we do that?"

"I don't think we can, sweetie," mumbled Kaoru, chewing on a pencil. He was rereading something Kagome had written a couple days ago with Spartan-esque concentration. It wouldn't be a surprise if he chewed _through_ the pencil.

A comfortable, functioning silence settled about the two of them, quiet enough for Kagome to hear something odd through the floor.

"Do you hear that?" she asked, nervously.

Kaoru stopped writing.

They could hear the conversation faintly through his open door. "_Hikaruuu_, my young, handsome prince, help Mama with these bags." The voice bounced up the stairs from the kitchen.

"Don't we have people to do this for us?" came Hikaru in a highly scrutinizing tone.

The woman giggled girlishly. "Of course we do. However, this is my favorite wine and _I _want to carry it in."

"Well, did you have to buy so much? You don't need _twelve_ bottles of French wine, Mom."

Kagome smiled. Kaoru's mother _sounded _fun and phenomenal but was she prepared to bare all and _meet_ the woman? Heck no.

Of course, Kaoru had to contradict her. "Ready to meet Hitachiin Yuzuha?"

Kagome swallowed, her throat making one of those comical _gulp_ sounds. "'Course not."

"You'll do fine," reassured Kaoru, grinning, and lead her into the hallway. Her feet seemed to drag behind them.

As they made their way down stairs Hikaru's voice became louder as they progressed: "You're having _more_?"

Yuzuha laughed. "I only had a _few_ glasses at the restaurant, you silly, silly, oh, grab that for me before I drop _these_!"

There was a _smash_, _crash_, _shatter _and Kaoru winced beside her. Kagome's mouth twitched slightly.

"Hikar_u_!" was heard, followed by a series of dulcet laughter and a low growl.

"_Mom_!"

Kaoru gripped her hand suddenly literally seconds before they entered the kitchen and Kagome forced a seasoned breath out of her lungs . It helped a little.

"Hey, Mom," said Kaoru, grinning.

Yuzuha spun on her heel and smiled back. "Kaoru_!_ And who's this?"

"This is Higurashi Kagome," replied Kaoru, before Kagome could open her mouth.

"Pretty," said Mama Bear, and she bowed slightly. "Nice you meet you, little Kagome. I hope you'll be staying for dinner?"

"Um, yes, I am," answered Kagome, weakly.

Kaoru let go of her hand and walked into the kitchen, scouring his mother's brown paper bags.

Kagome stood awkwardly for a minute until Yuzuha approached her a second time.

"Have some wine?" said Yuzuha, meekly. She was striking and bold and pink faced and Kagome figured one little glass wouldn't hurt, just being courteous, right? Being underage didn't apply when one of Japan's most renowned fashion designers were offering you a drink.

'Course it didn't.

_Right?_

Oh, whatever. Kagome smiled and said, "Sure."

Yuzuha poured the expensive beverage into a glass expertly with one hand. "It's _Chteau Le Pin Pomerol_," she muttered, happily. "'99."

Kagome took the glass and slowly brought it to her lips.

She sipped at the wine, testing it, cautiously.

"Thank you," said Kagome, eventually.

Yuzuha was pouring herself a glass when she glanced up and said, "Welcome," with a smile.

It looked as though Yuzuha had an awkward hold on the neck of the bottle, and her aim was a bit off, too… oh! She noticed Kagome was staring and flashed her a bright, Hikaru/Kaoru-esque grin. She seemed a little _drunk_.

Kagome laughed nervously.

"Cheers?" suggested Yuzuha, raising her glass to Kagome's.

"Cheers," replied the girl, and their glasses _clinked_.

Kaoru and Hikaru hated the taste of wine but both were vulnerable to their mother's pushy advances and ending up having a few glasses themselves (drunk with disgusted looks on their faces). Kagome ended up having glass after glass without even noticing it, her words spilling out easier after each sip. She talked freely with Yuzuha, laughed loudly, made jokes, and held Kaoru's hand.

Yuzuha was _pleased_.

They both were pleased, actually. Really pleased. Overtly pleased. They even had matching expressions of inebriated merriment.

Kagome had to use the bathroom and when she stood the room spun. She sat back down. "Kaor_u_, help me to the bathroom?"

Kaoru smiled. "Sure. We'll be right back, Mom."

He placed his hands firmly on Kagome's shoulders and gave her a light pat. Obediently she stood. Or tried to. And stumbled.

Everywhere.

Especially on the bottom step.

"What was _in_ that stuff?" asked Kagome, grinning. "I can't feel my toes. Or my toes can't feel my socks."

Kaoru held her closer. She tripped up another stair but Kaoru caught a flailing arm and steadied her "That's because you took off your socks fifteen minutes ago, I think Or because you keep stubbing them."

Kagome shrugged, casually. "Yuzuha wanted to read the tag. _Oh_, remember when she said my frilly socks brightened her day? That was so sweet! She's _so_ nice."

"I'm glad she likes you," said Kaoru as they reached the bathroom. He swung open the door. "Here you go, princess."

"_Princess_," giggled Kagome. "I'll just be a second or two."

She disappeared inside the bathroom.

The door locked with a _click_.

Kaoru leaned back against the wall. He hadn't had as much wine as Kagome had, or his mother for that matter, but he was still feeling a slight _buzz_. It tickled behind his ears, made him giddy. He was impatient, even, for Kagome's bathroom break to be over.

There was a squeak from inside that bathroom that tore him from his thoughts. "Kagome?"

The clattering of plastic bottles was heard, followed by the soft _thud _of a body. "Ahh! Not again!"

"Kagome?" asked Kaoru, worried. "Open the door!"

"I—I'm like, stuck in this basket thing, ouch, it's pinching me, hold on."

Kaoru paused, then subsequently smiled. "Take your time."

"Oh, alrighty. Everything's a-okay in here."

Kaoru heard the sink turn on, then off, and then there she was.

_Kagome_.

He felt his body tense up… in a good way.

"Kaoru?" purred Kagome. "Is something wrong?"

Kaoru could name a few. _1. You're not kissing me right now. 2. You're several feet away from me. 3. We're both fully clothed. _The list _could_ go on.

She moseyed on over to Kaoru's side of the hall, placing her damp palms on his upper arms. She rubbed his arms in a flirty, playful manner, licking her pick lips. And then she leaned in… and the mechanism inside of him that was holding back the sexual tension started churning and then, of course, a cog just _had _to fall out.

When Kagome touched him with her lips—_that_ would be when Kaoru's self-control would surely fail.

She was getting closer.

_Closer_.

_Clos_—

Kagome's mouth nipped his jaw like that of a cat, slow and efficiently.

And that, my dears, is how Kaoru lost his mind.

Roughly, he pressed her thin body up against the nearest wall. She was warm, overtly warm, and burned to the touch. Maybe it was just his hands? Or was it possible to be so hot in every _single_ way? Kaoru _ached_.

And then Kagome mewed and Kaoru knew right then and there that Kagome was deliberately using his liking for the _felis catus _against him. Sharing that not-so-harmless piece of personal information was a dumb idea. That was a dirty and low and despicable way of teasing him and oh my freakin' lord did she just _lick_ him?

Kaoru grabbed her shoulders roughly and smashed his mouth into hers. Their mouths fit nicely—until teeth entered the picture, that is. Then it was _clash_, _clatter_, and war.

In the middle of one such battle, Kaoru maneuvered his mouth for a split second to mutter, "Let's go in here."

He guided her wobbly knees into the nearest bedroom, and they tumbled down into the sheets. Kagome landed onto of him with a little grunt, but didn't break the kiss.

She suckled on his lower lip tenderly, her hands framing the sides of his face. Without warning, Kaoru flipped her over and took her place on top.

And just like that Kaoru's mouth was positively _everywhere_.

He sucked on her jaw, her neck, her collar bone, irritated the sensitive skin along her jugular, and in a continuous manner. Kagome moaned for him. Loudly.

Gradually, he moved down her body, kissing and nipping occasionally. He paid her belly button extra attention.

Soon he was between her _legs_.

His hand disappeared under her skirt.

He started going, applying pressure here, poking there, and Kagome's engine revved.

"Ka-Kaor_u_," breathed Kagome, pleasantly. She chewed on her bottom lip unconsciously. It was pretty cute and freakin' hot but Kaoru… didn't respond.

Kaoru was really, really serious about this.

He wasn't smiling, grinning, smirking, or exhibiting any representation of contentment on his face. He kept his eyes and concentration on his target and his target only: Kagome's _pie_.

He hiked up her skirt a little and crawled on his knees a little and then he was _really _between her legs. He gave her a slow lick.

Kagome twitched, repositioning her leg. Kaoru gave her another long stroke of his tongue, and another, and settled into some kind of a rhythm. He listened to the sound of her breathing, her gasps, and synched the movements of his mouth and tongue with them.

She jerked a little. And moaned a lot. And convulsed, religiously.

Kaoru scraped his teeth across her, and Kagome squeaked because it felt so _good_…

Here, Kaoru's poker face broke and he smiled. She was so _cute_.

"Don't stop," said Kagome, urgently. She reached down and ran a hand through his bright hair, affectionately.

So he didn't.

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_Stomp_.

_Stomp_, _stomp_, _thud._

"Mother," came a dreamy voice. "Stop pacing, please. You're making marks on the marble!"

Kyouya Ootori smacked his notebook on the side table, extravagantly. "He's _dating_ her, Tamaki, you incompetent—" Tamaki's expression of sorrow and shame caused the Shadow King to massage the bridge of his nose, distractedly. "Forgive me."

"It's fine," wept Tamaki, teary eyed. "Maybe next time you could just _rip _my heart of my chest instead of just _stomping_ on it."

"Oh, good Lord," sighed Kyouya. "You're completely missing The Point. This could lower our profits more than marginally. Much more."

The Shadow King began massaging his temples next, and Tamaki hopped off of the couch and positioned himself behind his friend. He placed his hands on Kyouya's shoulders and… started working the tense muscles there.

Kyouya relaxed into Tamaki's hands.

"Just breathe, dearest," cooed Tamaki. "True, Kaoru's beautiful teenaged romance could thwart the reputation of our much-loved club and bring and end to everything—"Kyouya jerked away from Tamaki's touch and turned around to face him. He—oh god—_glared_. "Are you trying to make everything _worse?_"

Tamaki shuddered. "Of-of course not."

The Prince recovered almost immediately. "Everything will turn out _fine_, just you watch! You're really just overreacting. See, if _you_ or _I _found someone to 'go steady' with, I'm sure _more _girls would come to see us. It's the Unavailable Complex. Women can't resist it."

Kyouya's glasses glinted in a familiar way.

"They're interested in the relationship. Girls would be swarming you, asking about the missus, how your relationship's going, are you fighting yet? And so on. Finally, they want to see if they're _better_ that your current spouse. They need to be _superior_."

Kyouya blinked uncharacteristically. "I believe that's the most sense you've made in a long time, Tamaki."

"Amazing, aren't I?" replied the Prince, smiling.

"Yes, you are."

A moment passed.

"Kaoru's a part of a _pair_, however. Is there a solution to that predicament somewhere inside that blonde head of yours, as well?"

Tamaki swallowed. "You—I never thought of that. I was actually just using you and me as examples."

Kyouya bit the inside of his mouth.

_Shit_.

This wasn't going to work out very well, was it?

Tamaki rolled his eyes. This official _Host Club_ business hour always bored him to freakin' tears. There were _so _many better things he could be doing right now. So many.

Such as…

"I feel like _spying_. Want to go to Haruhi's?"

_Sigh_.

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Kagome shivered.

Her fingers grazed the top of the phone idly.

Oh, shit, she wasn't ready, please, don't make her do this—

Kagome shut her eyes.

_Maybe when I open them everything will be better. This was a dream. Everything was a _dream_. _

A _dream_.

Maybe, ne? Maybe what happened between her and Inuyasha will disappear (a clean slate? A new set of karma beads?) and she'd wake up tomorrow in her old bed, and she'd stop smelling like cat and porridge and Grandpa, and Kikyou would text her from across the room like she used to—

Kagome sniffled.

Seven seconds passed and she just sucked it _up_.

The dial tone sounded so unfamiliar to her.

Her finger twitched.

One number.

Another.

And_ another_.

Dialing.

"Hello?"

Kagome tied the cord around her finger (although she felt it'd be better situated around her neck instead). "Hiya, Mama. Is Kikyou there?"

"Kagome? Yes, she's right upstairs. Let me call her for you. _Kikyou! Telephone, sweetie!_"

This was it.

No time for abortions now.

She could make out "_Coming_,_ Mama_," through the phone. The receiver passed through their hands clumsily. "Hello?"

Kagome swallowed. This was_ it_.

Go in for the kill or go home empty.

"Are you there?"

_Yes_. _I'm here. _

Kagome licked her lips and said, "Kikyou, it's me."

Kikyou made a strange noise.

"Don't hang up, _please_. We need to talk."

Kagome repositioned herself in her chair.

They had a _lot_ to talk about.

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**a/n:** oh ho ho. things are getting MORE intense.  
review & i'll love you. FOREVER.  
bye byes.


	8. chapter eight

**Oddity  
**by shannello

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**a/n:** sorry if my style is completely different. i've been messin' around with free-verse poetry and haven't looked at this cheeky 'lil story in months. reviews are sincerely appreciated! i love each and every one of you.

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She wanted to move back home, sleep in her old bed, wake up to her mother's voice, take cat naps with Kikyou, cook simple dinners, do laundry, watch cheesy soup operas on their old, comfy couch, rinse, and repeat. She wanted to sit at her lunch table, listen to Miroku's familiar, soothing voice, agree with Sango repeatedly, walk the halls of her old school, and drag a finger along a row of lockers. She wanted to walk home from school, alone, checking the licenses of passing cars for Inuyasha's Cobalt and the outline of Kikyou's head. She wanted to reach the drive-way just as Inuyasha's kissing Kikyou good-bye, his hands on her hips, her waist, her neck—

—and not _feel_ anything.

She wanted everything between her and her sister to go away; to vanish, to not-exist.

But, most of all, Kagome wanted to go home.

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"Mama," said Kikyou, taking the keys into her hand. "I'm driving to Grandpa's after school."

Mama poked her head around a corner. "Is everything okay?" There was a basket of laundry in her arms.

"Yeah," replied Kikyou, quickly. She slid on her back-pack, and opened the front door, avoiding her mother's eyes. "Kagome's coming home, tonight."

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The day after was vaguely awkward, but, at the same time, Kaoru had suspected that it would be. They were moving too fast, _he_ knew that, and he had one hand on the emergency brake, worried, wondering if now was the time to crank it back and slow things down.

He was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Anxious, too.

He worried he was sabotaging himself. It'd happened before.

Girls, before the _Host_ _Club _had been established, had occasionally confronted him. Dating had never been his forte, however, especially when your girlfriends could never tell you from your older brother. It was a moral crusher.

But… Kagome wasn't like those other girls, and Kaoru _knew_ this from day one, and he'd clearly have to be stupid, or lacking essential chromosomes to let her get away. She was cute, and funny, and had a depressing back-story, and she made him warm, and drove him crazy, and was responsible for causing more than one argument, and he _chose_ her over his brother. That counted for something.

As he dressed, alone, the first signs of morning streaming through his bed-room window, Kaoru thought about Kagome. The problems she had with her sister, her difficulties in school, the friends she must miss, and he wondered, did she have time for a boyfriend? …Well, _did_ she?

Honestly, he didn't know. He played with the sleeves of his uniform, running his tongue over his top teeth, and let his mind stay to other things, like breakfast, and which pair shoes he'd wear.

He tied a scarf around his throat, tightly, and then loosened it a little. Repositioned it. Felt out-of-place. Feeling more like an oddity than himself, he turned off his lights, turned down the heat, and left the room.

He debated staying home.

He was sabotaging himself, he knew he was.

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Classes, that day, seemed shorter than necessary. Kaoru was having difficulties in getting anything done at all, and was actually starting to fall behind in some courses, compiling a large amount of homework throughout the day. He had this weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, like, this tingly, intimidating forewarning.

And Kagome was late to school, showing up sometime during their first period, looking like she had just crawled out from under her covers moments before.

"Hi," she said, taking the empty desk next to his.

"Hi," replied Kaoru, keeping his eyes on the board. He felt weird. _Stop ruining everything_, he told himself, chewing on the back of his pen.

"Grandpa got lost," muttered Kagome, digging inside her tote. "Can you believe him? He's driven here literally fifty times." She placed a pencil in the indented slot for writing utensils. "I like your scarf."

Kaoru made a sound, signifying that he'd heard her, but kept his eyes on the board. Why was he feeling so weird? He didn't want to be one of those stupid high school boys that messed around and then _dashed_—

He didn't want to do that to Kagome.

"Your projects are due in less than two weeks," said the teacher, pulling Kaoru out from inside his head. "I'm positive all most of you have left to do is edit, so there should be no late assignments, _ne_?" She eyed the suspicious clusters of students, and then promptly turned and wrote _Due: Wednesday, November 1__st_on the chalk board.

They still had to edit and finalize the script, and, obviously, start filming. _Great_.

"Kikyou's coming over later," mumbled Kagome, as an after-thought.

Kaoru blinked, glancing over. "_Really?_"

"Mm," said Kagome, chewing on a stray cuticle. "We talked last night on the phone, when I got home from your place."

Kaoru swallowed.

"It was okay," she said, happily, and he almost believed her, too, the girl who'd ran away from the mere _sight_ of her older sibling. "No, seriously," she'd continued, looking over, catching on to the cynicism in his expression. "We talked for an hour and a half."

"Talked? Not screamed, shouted, or swore?" asked Kaoru, raising a single eyebrow.

"None of the above. Just talked," said Kagome, clearly, and faced forward, averting her gaze.

Kaoru studied her profile, like he had done, many times before.

"Actually," continued Kagome, in a tone, "I promised her something."

Kaoru frowned. "What?"

Kagome looked down, smiling. "I said she could come here, after school, and, um, experience the _Host Club _first hand."

Kaoru sat straight in his desk. "Like, be a _patron_?"

"Yeah," murmured Kagome, quietly, because the teacher was watching them. "Is that okay?"

Kaoru shrugged. "Kyouya wouldn't mind, but, um, are you okay with it?"

"Totally," said Kagome, writing something on a sheet of paper. "She'll be good."

Kaoru didn't understand, but didn't press her. He chewed on his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"So," said Kagome, after a moment, looking down. "I'm getting some kind of impression from you, (but I'm not sure what impression that is exactly), and, um, I'm confused." Here, she looked up. "Is it because I drank too much, or at all? Because I seriously did not plan for that to happen, or any of that, and I, um, apologize?"

Kaoru blinked.

"I—" he started.

"I know what happened happened too fast," blurted Kagome, mechanically. "But, I'm not sorry it did."

She turned, and caught his eyes, and Kaoru knew, right then and there.

If he had let her go he'd have to be freakin' retarded.

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The rest of the day went by too quickly. Lunch was a blur, any conversations had been warped and distorted, and, suddenly, Kaoru was standing outside the doors to the 3rd Music Room, his hands on the door handle.

Kagome had gone home after school, leaving him to his own devices. Kikyou was going to meet her at their grandfather's, and then, after, they'd both come back to the school. To the Music Room. To the _Host Club_.

He entered the room, taking in the flower-scented air, feeling the tingly sensation on his flesh which occurred whenever the Shadow King was in the vicinity. He caught a whiff of something sweet and warm nearby.

The first person he saw was Haruhi, naturally. He glided over, slowly, and took a seat beside her on the sofa.

"Hi," said Kaoru, quietly.

"Shh," replied Haruhi, without looking at him, a crossword puzzle and a pencil in her hands. "Hunny's asleep."

Kaoru leaned forward, glanced at the form taking up the second half of the couch, and settled back in his seat. "_Ah_."

"Congrats, by the way," whispered Haruhi.

"Thank you," replied Kaoru, automatically. "For what, exactly?"

Haruhi chewed her lip. She scribbled something into five boxes. "On the girlfriend."

Kaoru smiled, slightly. It was a combination of a cheeky grin and hesitation, looking lopsided and off-beat. Haruhi, of course, being oh-so perceptive, did not notice it at all. She added an _A_ to an empty box.

"Um, where is everyone?" asked Kaoru. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's ten after three."

Haruhi ignored him purposely for a moment (something seven-lettered that had to do with the Finnish government?) and sucked on her bottom lip. After a minute she looked up. "I'm not sure, actually."

Cryptic, but Kaoru expected that much from Haruhi. She stared at a wall, temporarily, and then resumed her crossword.

Bored, Kaoru peeled himself off of the couch. Hunny snored, softly.

He walked around the room, grazing the grand piano with his index finger, and picked up Kyouya's voice in one of the adjoining rooms. Tamaki whimpered in the distance. Behind him, Mori scooped Hunny up and carried him away. Several minutes passed.

Haruhi finished her crossword triumphantly and rose from the couch, mumbling something about remaking a pot of tea.

There were distinguished noises coming from outside the doors, high pitched giggles and girlish squeals, and, after straightening his collar, Kaoru licked his lips and thought, _Well, here we go._

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The last girl scurried out, her cheeks pink and warm, and Tamaki closed the door behind her.

"There we are," said the prince, grinning at his associates. "Another successful day!"

"You _were_ right," replied Kyouya, slightly dreamily. "We've had a 5% increase in attendants."

The others blinked, confused, and Kyouya turned without another word. He waved them off. "Have a nice evening," he murmured, writing something down, and reached for his coat. "It's getting cold out. We should start planning our winter-themed days."

Tamaki nodded, once, sharply. "Cuddling under quilts, sipping on hot cocoa with little fluffs of foam on top…"

Hunny's stomach growled.

"Let's go, Takashi," the smallish boy squeaked. He held out his hand. Mori closed his around it without hesitation and grunted. They said their goodbyes and promptly left.

"See you all tomorrow, unfortunately," said Kyouya, closing his cell phone. His driver was minutes from the building. "Tamaki," he said, soundly. "You're riding with me tonight."

Tamaki, off in another world, just nodded, twice.

"Bye," said Kaoru, absentmindedly. Somewhere behind him Haruhi was pulling on a blue windbreaker and turned to glance expectantly at Hikaru. They shared a glance, momentarily.

Hikaru walked over and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Haruhi invited us over for dinner. You coming?"

Kaoru glimpsed the clock. There was still time for Kagome to show up… "No, I don't think so. I'm just going to wait."

"Here?" asked Hikaru, concerned. Haruhi paid them no attention. "You might as well just leave now, and call her when you get home."

Kaoru shook his head, twice. "No, no, it's fine." He felt like he was repeating himself. A malfunctioning cyborg.

Hikaru, realizing he was destined to lose this argument, exhaled dramatically. "Alright, then. I'll call you, if you're not home by seven."

Kaoru nodded, and Hikaru made to leave.

Haruhi slid her school bag over her shoulder and walked past him, catching his eyes. "Goodbye, Kaoru," she said, affectionately.

"Bye," he replied, waving halfheartedly.

They dispersed, leaving him alone once again.

For half-an-hour after that Kaoru waited. He occupied a seat near the window, glancing out with his chin in his palm, eyes glossy. For half-an-hour after that he sat in the piano seat, attempting to strike out a few pretty notes. He failed.

Ten minutes before he had decided to leave the Music Room's door swung open, quietly. "Um, hello?" came a familiar voice, and Kaoru perked up. She was _late_.

"Over here," he said, listening to a pair of feet shuffle across the Music Room's floor.

He turned. The look on her face was apologetic. "Sorry we're late," she said, not offering an excuse.

Kaoru shrugged, genuinely happy to see her. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

Kagome occupied an empty chair near by, twiddled her thumbs, and, thinking she owed him some kind of explanation, said, "Um, Kikyou had an issue."

Kaoru said nothing, so she continued. "It was… Inuyasha."

"Inu—"

"Yeah," said Kagome, quietly. "So, Kikyou comes over after school, like she says. And we talked, and everything was getting better, and then _he_ calls her." She sighed. "They fought, and he said he was driving up here to get her, _irrationally_, if I might add, and Kikyou hung up on him. But, _no_, that didn't stop him. He called back. _Eleven_ times."

Kaoru's eyes widened.

"And! He actually drove out here! To get her," said Kagome, erratically. "She left our mom's car parked at Grandpa's and went for a ride with him… I'm worried."

"Does Inuyasha—" started Kaoru, warily.

"Hit her?" supplied Kagome, whitening. "No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just… he's _so_ protective. Overtly. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if he—"

Her cell voice vibrated.

"Um, let me get this," she said, quickly, glancing at the caller ID. "It's Kikyou." After a minute of barely speaking, Kagome's face paled. "_What?_"

"What is it?" whispered Kaoru, and Kagome blinked.

"He said he's going to do _what_?" repeated Kagome, voice shaky. "Tell him to stop! Tell him to calm down, relax, and, I don't know, go _home_!"

Kaoru touched her arm. "_Kagome_."

"No! Don't let him—" Kagome stopped. "_Kikyou_, no."

She hung up, defeated, and Kaoru said, "What _exactly_ is happening?"

Kagome looked up. "They're coming here."

Kaoru's heart sped up. "Uh, why?"

"Inuyasha's… impulsive. And I guess they've been fighting this entire time and he's angry. Really angry. At _me_."

Kaoru swallowed. "Oh."

"God," sighed Kagome, letting her face fall into her hands. "Why does this always happen to me?"

"It'll be okay," said Kaoru, seriously. "He probably won't show up."

"I sincerely hope so," said Kagome.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Kaoru sliding his arm around her, protectively and warming. Kagome placed her cheek against his shoulder and breathed in. This _peace_ was so welcomed. Why couldn't she live a quiet life?

Why couldn't she have lived _her_ quiet life and not fucked up Kikyou's?

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Kaoru moved. "For what?"

"I'm sorry," repeated Kagome, squeezing her eyes shut, and then—

_Foot steps._

"Is _this_ it?" someone said, a boy, and Kagome's heart literally _dropped_.

It fell one thousand miles, straight into the acid in her stomach, where it promptly liquefied.

The Music Room door swung open, bouncing against it's hinges.

A boy stood in the frame. He was tall, taller than Kaoru by several inches, with a head of long, unruly black hair, and suddenly, he bore his teeth.

Kagome shrunk away, searching for her sister. Inuyasha looked painfully homicidal (and he probably was).

Kikyou flooded into the room, her eyes wild, and Kagome breathed out, relieved.

Now, maybe they could talk this over and—

"Inuyasha, _don't_—" said Kikyou, urgently.

Kaoru felt his body tense up.

"_You_," growled Inuyasha, walking over to Kagome. His body looked stiff, caving in on itself. "You _lied_ to me. For _weeks_."

Kagome shrunk, cowering. What was she supposed to—

Inuyasha's hand.

_Hands_.

They were wrapped around her upper arms.

"You _knew_ I was in love with her," he said, squeezing.

"I—I didn't—" struggled Kagome.

"Didn't _what_?"

She grew silent.

"Didn't WHAT?" growled Inuyasha. Kaoru stepped forward.

"Stop touching her," he said, calmly. Inside, however, there was a hurricane storming in his stomach.

"She fucking—" started Inuyasha.

"You couldn't tell them apart," muttered Kaoru. "You couldn't tell Kikyou from Kagome.""They're fucking _twins_!" shouted Inuyasha, baring his teeth.

"You're _pathetic_."

Inuyasha blinked. "What the fuck did you say?"

"I said, you're pathetic," repeated Kaoru, unsympathetically. "You're pathetic, and you don't deserve her."

"Fuck _you_," said Inuyasha, cheeks hot. "Who the fuck do you think—"

"You _never _deserved her," Kaoru said, again. "You'll _never _deserve her."

Kikyou's eyes flickered to Kagome's.

Inuyasha spit at Kaoru's feet.

Kaoru took a thoughtful step back.

"_Prick_," barked Inuyasha, hoarsely. He readied his fists. His eyes darkened, and Kagome felt the hairs on her upper arms and shoulders stand.

Kikyou made an attempt to subdue him, grabbing his forearms and pulling them parallel to his body, but Inuyasha was _raging_. Kikyou, and even Kagome, knew that when Inuyasha was this angry it was probably in their best interest to crawl underneath the nearest desk.

"Calm down," said Kaoru, warily. "I don't want to—"

He paused. Inuyasha was…

_Growling_.

"Inuyasha," warned Kikyou, tensely. Everyone in the world held their breath.

And then he swung.

Kaoru fell back, crushing a side-table along with his lower back. The table cracked in two, or thirds, or fourths, and pieces lay splintered around his legs. He groaned.

"_Kaoru_!" Kagome's heart broke, and she stepped forward, attempting to help him, but Kaoru held up a hand. Her knees felt weak as she kept herself from falling apart.

"You _fuck_," barked Inuyasha, snarling, and he grabbed Kaoru by his collar, yanked him up, and socked him hard. Kaoru's face made a sickening sound. Kagome yelped helplessly.

Somehow, with a spurt of strength, Kaoru kicked the other boy off of him and sent him into a table. Inuyasha's body knocked one of the tables over, and a second later Kaoru was up and Inuyasha was pushed, hard, on top of it. It snapped, easily, under his weight. Kaoru winced, thinking, _We're destroying the place._

"Inuyasha! Stop!" shouted Kikyou, sounding exhausted.

"Not until this fucker takes back what he said!" growled Inuyasha, seriously.

"You sound like a _child_," reasoned Kikyou, but Inuyasha ignored her, piling into Kaoru and sending him against the piano. Kaoru cried out. Inuyasha kicked the piano stool, breaking the legs clean off.

They carried on fighting, breaking other several apparently fragile pieces of furniture. Kagome's and/or Kikyou's shouts, cries, and threats were inadequate. Inuyasha was _rabid_.

And Kaoru, well, he wasn't about to give up.

He was rightly _finished _with giving up.

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**a/n:** sorry about the length, and the cliff hanger. :/. i'm so torturous.  
anywhoooo, love you (and sorry about the torture).


	9. chapter nine

**Oddity  
**by shannello

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**a/n:** getting back into the swing of things. hope you enjoy this chapter. it's a bit shorter than the others, but it's seriously intense, and fucking sad. yeah. THIS IS ALMOST OVER.

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Sirens.

Lights, coming in through the windows, dancing on the walls.

Someone was crying… Kagome, or Kikyou, or maybe it was both of them, clinging to each other in fear. In anticipation of what would come next.

Jesus, his head hurt. Jesus. He couldn't feel his arm. Oh, fuck. His arm was _numb_, fucking numb, it felt like it wasn't there at all. He made an attempt to move it and a shock spread up to his shoulder, and it was the most painful feeling he'd ever felt. _Jesus_.

Footsteps.

"_Stop!_"

Black.

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Kaoru's head was throbbing. Thirty or so minutes ago he was pushed up against one of the Music Room's elegantly decorated walls, chipping the border with some part of his body, maybe a knee. He couldn't remember parts of the scuffle, presumably because of the concussion he experienced after Inuyasha socked him in the back of the head. He couldn't remember if he'd won or not.

Kagome was kneeling beside him. Her skin was shiny, sweat-covered, as if she'd had been part of the action when he hadn't been looking. She looked afraid.

"Kaoru," she said, and helped him sit up. They were in the grass, surrounded by trees and in the distance Kaoru could make out the back of the academy. "Are you okay?"

He couldn't truthfully answer that question. He was coherent, yes, but he couldn't remember leaving the school, not to mention the Music Room. He placed a damp hand to his forehead and exhaled. He felt unbalanced and tried to place his other hand on the grass beside him to prop him up and he doubled over in _pain_.

His shoulder was dislocated.

_Fuck_.

He'd definitely lost this one.

"Where's—"

"He's gone," said Kagome, quickly. The look on her face made him feel inferior for losing this badly. For losing _at all_. Kaoru bit the inside of his mouth, feeling incredibly stupid. "Do… can you remember how we got here?"

Kaoru muttered a negative.

Kagome nodded, looking away. "Inuyasha… um, he hurt you pretty bad, and a teacher heard you fighting and came in. Inuyasha wouldn't stop hitting you… The teacher called the police."

Kaoru blinked, slowly. He couldn't remember this.

A feeling of panic came over him. What else did he forget?

How—

"We ran," continued Kagome, as if reading his mind and answering his unasked questions. "Inuyasha and Kikyou left before we could… I think the police are looking for us. For the damage, you know? To the room. We're going to get expelled, aren't we? We're going to get kicked out of school."

Kaoru groaned involuntarily. "Don't think negatively."

"But that's what's going to happen. Unless they throw us in _jail_. I mean, it's totally destroyed in there. _Everything_ is ruined."

Kaoru touched the back of his head with his good arm, wincing slightly. It hurt like a mother—

"What do you wanna do?" he said, quietly. He didn't want to fight.

No more fighting.

_Please_.

Kagome chewed on her bottom lip. "I have no idea."

"Well, I don't feel like going to jail," replied Kaoru, after a pause. He placed his hands firmly on his thighs and tried to rise. His knees gave out.

"I—" started Kaoru, on his knees again.

Kagome, witnessing his painful attempt at just _standing_ _up_, felt an overwhelming wave of sadness, and wrapped her arms around his middle, avoiding his shoulder as much as she possibly could. "I'm _so_ sorry."

His body creaked, and his muscles were sore, but Kagome's arms were warm and he felt a pressure inside of him slowly vanish. He wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her closer. She smelled like grass and tea and Kaoru wanted to drink her in.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she repeated, over and over, her eyes jumping from bruise to bruise on his face, jaw, collarbone. "So sorry…" _Everything is my fault._

He kissed her, then.

Sweetly, with a split lip, and it tasted like blood.

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They were scared.

Just scared, little kids, in all honesty, and neither of them had a plan. Neither of them knew what to do in this kind of fucked-up situation. Neither of them wanted to see the consequences.

Kagome wanted to run away, which was her internal response to conflict of any variety, and avoid everything all together, but Kaoru wouldn't be able to do that. He _lived _here, Ouran was _his _school, the Music Room was _his_. Kagome was just a visitor.

She had no relationship with the city, or with the characters, or his beloved school. He could see it in her the moment they met. It radiated out of her.

She didn't want to be here.

She _never _wanted to be here.

Even after they'd started liking each other, started dating, started this whole mess—Kagome was never fully his. He could tell. There, in her eyes right before exiting his car. There, in the way her hands shook when she talked about her sister, her old house, her mother, her friends. There, in the way she stared into him, through him, after their lips touched.

And she _knew_.

She knew she was eventually going to leave. Go home. Forget about this city and this school and these people. She belonged in a different city, with different people, not _here_. She left the important parts of herself back home because she _knew _she'd be going back for them. Half of her met Kaoru, and even _that _half wasn't fully here, still longing for Inuyasha's rough hands and chapped lips. She knew she'd be back in her old bedroom, sprawled across her old blankets, on good terms with her estranged sister in no time.

No time at all.

And it felt like, at that time, walking back to the city with one arm around her injured boyfriend, that her time had run out.

"We're going to the hospital," she said, firmly, and Kaoru didn't argue. Hospital. _Good_. No problem there.

Her steps were short, and Kaoru glanced up at her face. He could see it, there, already, in the lines between her eyebrows, in the blue of her eyes, in her frown. She was ready, just waiting for the moment when she could leave.

Would she do that?

To _him_?

She stepped on a twig and snapped it in half, muttering under her breath. She was angry, but sympathetic, so sympathetic… he wondered if she would stay for _him_, because she wanted to, not because she made this mess and had a duty to clean it up.

He didn't want to believe that, but suddenly he had this feeling, this dark, unpromising feeling that everything was falling apart. With each step, everything was just falling apart.

_Everything_.

He was going to lose her. She was going to pack up and leave and he was going to stay behind because that's where _he _belonged. It was hard to understand, sure, but he got it. We all have places we have to be. This just wasn't hers.

God. His shoulder _hurt_, but thinking about Kagome leaving was the most painful thought he'd ever had in his short but well-rounded life.

And it was something he was just going to have to deal with.

"Kagome—" he started, feeling cold.

"We're almost there," she said, cutting him off, and he felt his walls crumbling around him. Pebbles splashed into the moat he had built around himself, the moat that Kagome had bravely sailed across, gaining access into his castle, a place _no one_ had ever entered.

No one.

And now it was over.

The reached the street ten or fifteen minutes later, their legs sore and dew-covered. Kagome hailed down a taxi and they piled in, Kaoru first. The ride was quiet.

Eerily quiet.

"Thank you," was the first word she said in the twelve minutes it took to get to the hospital. Kaoru felt cold all over again. They paid the driver and Kagome wrapped her arms around Kaoru for the third time, helping him into the building.

They signed him in, and a nurse led him to what would be his room for the next few days. Tests, she was saying, would be done on his brain, because of the concussion. His shoulder would have to be relocated. X-rays. Internal bleeding was a possibility.

"Looks like the work of three men," the nurse said, and Kaoru couldn't tell if she was being funny or _trying _to make him feel like shit. The tone of her voice was hard to read.

Kagome stayed behind in the main office, her eyes on a pay phone, her hands awkwardly placed in her lap. Kaoru watched her sitting there, alone, as he walked down the hall.

His eyes never left hers.

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She felt _awful_.

She felt like a monster. A _monster_. A creature that brought pain and destruction and unhappiness to innocent people with innocent lives who didn't _deserve_ pain and destruction and unhappiness. She felt like she had showed up uninvited, tried to fit in in a place that was two steps above her, and ended up feeling small and cornered and reverted back into the Monster.

The Monster. The part of her that didn't think logically, that acted upon instinct, that stomped on buildings and emerged from the sea.

Generally _destroyed_ things.

Jesus. It was all her fault.

All of it was _her_ _fault_.

She knew this.

The Monster had eaten Inuyasha alive. That was the catalyst. The instant Kagome's mouth touched Inuyasha's was the moment everything turned to shit. Suddenly, Kikyou hated her. Her mother sent her to another _city_ because she couldn't live in the same house as her twin daughters. Her Grandfather didn't know what to think and consequently avoided her.

But all of that seemed insignificant when she met Kaoru.

He was sunny, and warm, and made the dark clouds disappear that _that's_ why this hurt this bad. She had caused _everything_. Every single thing that had happened, Kikyou's heartbreak, Kaoru's pain, Inuyasha's anger, her mother's sadness—_all of it_. She had caused Kikyou to hate her, hate Inuyasha, she had caused Kaoru to lower his walls and let a _stranger _inside. A stranger. She wasn't deserving of his infatuation, his attention, _him_, because she had lied. She introduced herself as _Kagome_ when her name was anything but.

She was the Monster again.

Maybe it never left.

That's why, as she sat in the main office of the hospital—_the hospital_, that's where they ended up at the end of it all because of _her_—she couldn't take her eyes off of the phone. She felt like maybe the only way she could fix things was by removing herself from the equation. Kaoru would heal, forget about the stupid girl who got him beaten up and abandoned him, and eventually find someone better. Someone without a Monster in them.

Kagome bit her lip.

Run away.

Run run run away.

It repeated in her mind like a broken record. Kaoru disappeared into a room somewhere down the hall and her heart pulled at its strings. _Follow him_, it said.

She felt sick.

Why did everything she touch have to turn to _shit? _Was there a figurative black cloud above her head, continuously raining an endless supply of shit onto her and everything she came into contract with? That's what it felt like.

That's what it _really_ felt like.

Her head in her hands, Kagome started thinking hard. Either she stayed, possibly messed up Kaoru's life in whatever possible way there was left to mess it up, was kicked out of one of the most prestigious academies in the country, stomped on more buildings and ate more people alive, and had to _take _the looks, the shit, the penalties she deserved OR she ran.

Just ran.

Just

_ran._

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Kaoru woke alone.

Part of him had expected this.

His head was throbbing dully, a sharp ache somewhere at the back of his brain. A moan escaped his throat, involuntarily, as he examined his room. He'd expected this.

He felt exceptionally empty, covered in a cold sweat.

It was a dark, empty room. Not appealing by any means, no, actually he felt more inclined to flee the enclosure than to stay within them and eventually get better. Dull white walls, no television, stiff blankets. Quiet.

_Cold_.

He'd expected this.

It was bright outside the window. He couldn't guess the time. Either it was early in the morning or sometime during the afternoon, but that would mean he'd slept for over 12 hours. Which was completely possible. His head felt heavy and full of blood.

His hands fumbled for the button attached to his bed. He couldn't pinpoint why he wanted a nurse, but it felt daunting to be so alone and he needed to see another living being. Just to make sure he wasn't waking up during Judgment Day.

His finger rested on the button.

Be it Judgment Day or not, part of him kind of didn't care. Kagome was gone by now. _Gone._

"Damn it," he said, closing his eyes. He really messed things up.

_How _things got this bad _this _quick still remains a mystery. Everything was going fine, and suddenly—

Suddenly, _this._

Hospital.

Various injuries.

His girlfriend missing.

No will, whatsoever, to get out of this bed.

Kaoru groaned and rolled over. Big mistake. _Big fucking mistake._

His shoulder still hurt like hell, and he mentally punched himself in the face for not remembering that. He blinked away a couple of tears. _God_. Remind him never to get in a fight _ever _again. Not unless he actually had a chance, thanks.

Inuyasha was fucking _tough_, he'll give him that.

Not the smartest pup in the litter, but probably the biggest, and most aggressive, and was probably kicked around a couple times to rough him up a bit.

_Three man job_, said the nurse. It felt more like a ten man job.

Light streamed in through the window, settling on his face. Blinded, he started to roll back over but stopped himself, _thankfully_, before doing so. He'd much rather be temporarily blinded than temporarily unconscious from the pain rolling onto his shoulder would bring him.

Wow.

What a lonely place.

He'd been awake for less than five minutes and he already felt like he'd been alone for centuries. Kinda felt like he'd been here before, this same room, for a long, unbearably long time. No visitors. No explanations. Just. Here.

Maybe he had.

The door clicked, and suddenly swung open, and in walked a clean looking lady with brown hair pulled up into a messy bun. "Good afternoon," she said, holding a clipboard in one hand, a coffee cup in another. She was smiling.

Kaoru's stomach turned at the smell of the coffee. "Hey."

"So," said the woman, apparently his doctor. "I'm glad you woke up from your nap. It was starting to get worryingly long. Didn't want you to slip into a coma." She said this very calmly, and took a seat at the end of his bed, avoiding his legs.

"What time is it?" asked Kaoru, groggily.

"Five o' clock," replied his doctor, taking a drink of her coffee. "That was a big nap, right?"

She was smiling, and it was inviting, and Kaoru felt his mouth twitching at the corners. She was nice. Suddenly the room didn't feel so empty.

"Oh, so, down to business. We've got some of your tests back. Dislocated shoulder was an obvious one, but I'm please to let you know that _nothing _else is broken or dislocated. You've got a lot of surface injuries, though. Bruises, scratches, a few cuts. But those won't kill you. We stitched the deep ones up, the rest were bandage worthy. The biggest worry was that head of yours."

Kaoru nodded. His head felt a little heavy.

"Your attacker didn't traumatize you permanently. The concussion he caused however was enough to knock you out for half-an-hour, if not longer." She frowned.

"Can you remember everything?"

Kaoru bit his lip.

Lie?

"Um, no…" he admitted, with difficulty. "I think."

The doctor nodded, writing something down.

A moment passed, a very quiet moment. Kaoru squirmed in the awkward atmosphere, trying not to stare at the doctor, avoiding her eyes. She finished writing.

"Well, that's all for now. We're going to keep you again, overnight, just to make sure everything's okay up here." She knocked twice on the side of her head, grinning. "Dinner is in an hour. It's not that bad, so you should try and eat a little."

She rose.

After three steps toward the door she turned back around, suddenly remembering something. Kaoru eyed her, expectantly. "Oh, your sister is out in the lobby. She was here all night." Her face was very sober.

Kaoru blinked. "My sister."

"Yes." The doctor opened the door, suddenly looking like she was very busy. "Want me send her in?"

"Yeah."

She left, shutting the door behind her. Her footsteps echoed down the hall a ways until Kaoru couldn't be bothered to listen for them any longer. His head hurt. It was dull, now, but still, it _hurt_.

He closed his eyes. Waiting.

Waiting.

_Wait_—

The door clicked.

Footsteps.

"Kaoru," she started, her voice sounding watery and edgy.

He opened his eyes.

Her face was red, and streaked with tears, and she looked like she hadn't slept at all. He, on the other hand, had slept more than enough, and despite the various injuries to his skinny frame, he was feeling slightly better than before.

Kagome might have contributed to that.

"Hi," he said, grunting. He was trying to sit up, his back against the wall because his bed lacked a back board. His pillow gave no support, whatsoever. Kagome watched him with wet eyes, frowning. Kaoru gestured for her to come closer with his good arm, holding out his hand. "C'mere."

Kagome… _broke_.

Suddenly, what seemed like an never-ending supply of tears flowed freely from the corners of her eyes, and she _ran_. To _him_. She hid her face in his chest, sobbing generously. Kaoru shushed her gently, running a hand through her hair, muttering quietly that it'd be okay, everything was fine, nothing was her fault, he didn't blame her at all.

Kagome didn't understand, how can you still say that? After all of this?

Kaoru kissed the top of her head, despite the position being as uncomfortable as it was. Because, Kagome, right now, at this moment, I don't care about anything but you.

And she stopped crying.

Just to look at him without tears blurring his image.

She kissed him, once, tasting like the ocean. Kissed him again, tasting like the sea.

She pulled back, wiping her eyes with the back of her sleeve, and said the three words he'd _known_ he'd hear since the very beginning, since the moment he'd met this beautiful, chaotic, innocent girl. The three words he'd been waiting to hear since their first kiss because he'd known, even back then.

Those three words.

He braced himself.

three

two

one.

"I'm going home."

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**a/n: **well, i'm going to go eat chinese food and wait for feedback. i wanna know what you guys want to happen. SO I CAN MOCK YOU jk. i want different perspectives on how you think this story will end. keep me interested in this so i CAN end it. get what i'm saying. i'm kind of losing interest, if you couldn't tell by the many MONTHS between this update and the last. sorry!


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